


Room for One More

by MrRhapsodist



Series: The Punk, The Hippie, and The Church Girl [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives Except Rachel, F/F, Injury Recovery, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Threesome - F/F/F, pricemarshfield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 19:27:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9840659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrRhapsodist/pseuds/MrRhapsodist
Summary: Six months after surviving a near-fatal gunshot, Chloe takes her first steps into the new world of Arcadia Bay. She mourns Rachel Amber and tries to deal with what’s become of her old friend Max—and Max’s new girlfriend, Kate Marsh. In the new world, is there still a place for Chloe in Max’s heart?





	1. Trauma

**Author's Note:**

> I've had my heart set on a Max/Chloe/Kate fic for a while now, but I wanted to milk this premise for all it's worth. This story is going to be more about Chloe healing and how she gets into said relationship. And if this goes well, maybe there'll be a sequel that's just pure and fluffy Pricemarshfield moments.
> 
> Stay tuned!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe faces the end of her life as she knows it, and gets rewarded with a face from her past.

**1. Trauma**

When she pushed open the door to the girls’ bathroom, Chloe Price felt goddamn invincible. How could she not, when she’d just watched wimpy little rich kid Nathan Prescott turn tail and duck into the bathroom—into the _girls’_ room—at the first sight of her?

It was a quiet day at Blackwell Academy, even with all the kids roaming the halls and teachers passing her without a second thought. With her blue hair and tattoos, she looked like half the artsy student population in this institutional nightmare. Chloe hadn’t been back to the campus in a long time. Not that she missed the place. Why would she, when it meant running into fucking preppies like the Vortex Club? And why would she put herself any closer to that step-fuhrer David? The fact that he was an onsite security staffer didn’t help. He’d probably bust her ass for even being anywhere near the school that she’d dropped out of. A goddamn Nazi, all the way to his core.

She took a step inside. And right there was Nathan, hunched over the sink, pale and sweating. _Good,_ she thought. He deserved to sweat a little. He deserved a _lot_ more for the shit he’d pulled the night before. Chloe didn’t let it show on her face, but inside, her stomach knotted with revulsion. If she weren’t careful, she could find herself sliding back to a dark place. Back to the memory of waking up on a filthy dorm room floor, surrounded by unwashed clothes and empty pill bottles. Back to the sight of that creep crawling toward her with a camera.

Back to her scream, a busted lamp, his camera hitting the floor, and a mad dash out of the room.

Chloe had no interest in revisiting that mini-nightmare. She’d rather _be_ the nightmare this time.

From his spot over the sink, Nathan twisted around to scowl at her. “So what do you want?” he said in a low growl.

Ignoring his distress, Chloe stepped past him. She began pushing open one stall door after another. The last thing she needed was some innocent Blackwell student—or worse, one of the Vortex Club groupies—to overhear this confrontation. Then again, if they saw Nathan break down like the sissy boy he was and told the whole school about it? Chloe would consider that icing on the cake.

“I hoped you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say,” she said out loud. When she reached the end and found no one else, she nodded to herself. “Now, let’s talk bidness—”

“I’ve got nothing for you,” Nathan challenged.

Chloe spun on her heel. After what he’d pulled, she’d never give him an inch to breathe. “Wrong. You got hella cash.”

Nathan refused to even look up from the sink. He sounded a little more confident now. “That’s my family,” he insisted, “not me.”

 _Fine,_ thought Chloe. _Let’s play rough. Let’s make this hurt._

“Oh, boo hoo, poor little rich kid.” She moved closer, her voice lashing out just like she’d tried to do with her leg that terrifying night before. Only this time, she’d hit his balls for sure. “I know you’ve been pumpin’ drugs n’ shit to kids around here.” Before Nathan could even form a reply, she circled around, swooping in low on the right to put herself between him and the only way out of the bathroom. “I bet your respectable family would would help me out if I went to them. Man, I can see the headlines now—”

She could almost hear the veins popping in Nathan’s forehead. He cut her off with a snarl and gripped the sides of the sink. “Leave them out of this, bitch.”

 _Good,_ she thought. Now he was off-balance. Time to rub salt into that wound.

Chloe shoved at his shoulder. She raised her voice. Whatever it took to get him to crack. “I can tell everybody Nathan Prescott is a a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks himself—”

She stopped when she heard the click from under his jacket. Her eyes bulged when she saw the gun.

And not just any gun. Not some prop like in the movies.

A _real_ gun. An expensive-looking gun.

And, like a fucking idiot, the one she’d taken from David’s collection was all the way back home instead of on her belt.

“You don’t know who the fuck I am or who you’re messing around with!” Nathan challenged. He was the badass now, pointing the gun right into Chloe’s face. She stared down its smooth silver barrel and tried not to wet herself. She was about to lose that battle.

“Where’d you get that?” She backpedaled all the way to the bathroom door. Maybe she could stall. Maybe she could talk him down. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t die here. But Nathan advanced toward her, pointing the gun right into her stomach, and slipping his hand against the door beside her head. She was trapped. Well and truly fucked, and she lost all sense of control. “What are you doing? Come on, put that thing down!”

Nathan slammed the door with his open palm. “Don’t _ever_ tell me what to do. I’m so _sick_ of people trying to control me!”

He sounded out of control all right. This wasn’t the Nathan she’d tried to con at the bar. This wasn’t even the little creep she’d rabbit-kicked in the dorm room. This was the fucking scary kid with the gun that every school freaked out about. And Chloe was trapped in a bathroom with him. Trapped with no witnesses, just like she’d confirmed a minute ago.

She tried one last time to reason with him. “You are going to get in hella more trouble for this than drugs—”

Nathan cut her off with a hand on her shoulder, pinning her to the door himself. “Nobody would ever even miss your ‘punk ass,’ would they?”

Chloe couldn’t hold back anymore. Every last goddamn survival instinct kicked in all at once. She thrust her hands against him. “Get that gun away from me, psycho!”

 _Bang_.

Her stomach ripped. Good God, her stomach actually ripped open. She could feel it. She could feel a lot of things, and none of them good. Chloe couldn’t scream. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t cry. Everything went red and hazy. Everything fucking _hurt._

She saw everything go sideways. Nathan’s face. The gun. The whole bathroom. She didn’t even feel herself hitting the floor because that was where she must’ve ended up. For Chloe, all she could feel was the neverending goddamn universe of everlasting pain and torment. The universe where her stomach ripped itself apart, and everything tasted like blood, and everything was going dark real fast.

She must’ve been hallucinating. She thought she saw a blue butterfly, fluttering its wings in the air. She could’ve _sworn_ she heard a familiar voice calling out “ _No!_ ” But that was outside the pain. None of that mattered now. She’d failed.

Her last thought, before everything went black, was, _I’m so sorry, Rachel. Don’t be mad..._

* * *

Voices.

Rhythmic beeps.

A warm bed.

A dull ache in her stomach.

These were the things that told Chloe Price she was still alive.

She blinked her eyes through the intense white glare from a light panel in the ceiling. When her eyes adjusted, she realized where she was. That rhythmic beeping could only be from a heart monitor. The warm yet firm bed underneath her could only be a hospital-issue mattress. And that pain in her stomach, when she tried to move her hand over it—

Nothing prepared for her how much that wound hurt. Almost like getting shot again.

“Fu-fu-fuck...” Chloe groaned. “Fuck _me_...”

“Chloe!” Her mother’s voice came out in a breathless sob. She had no time to shield herself from the tearful kisses Joyce planted up and down her face. “Oh, my girl! My sweet baby girl!”

Tears fell from Chloe’s eyes, too. In her world of pain, hearing her mother’s voice and feeling her hands on her face seemed like the sweetest medicine ever. She tried to say more, to say proper things like _I love you, Mom,_ like a good daughter would. But touching the stitches on her stomach had taken her breath away, and she needed a moment to stop wheezing.

She saw the rest of the hospital room through tear-filled eyes. It was fairly large, divided up with several curtains that were a nauseating shade of green. Doctors and nurses walked right past her bed, consulting clipboards and smartphones without a glance in her direction. One nurse carried an armful of towels, pausing only when Joyce raced over to tell her that Chloe was awake. The nurse took one look at Chloe, then nodded and hurried along. And it was only then that Chloe realized she and her mother weren’t alone.

A strange young girl in a gray hoodie sat curled up in a chair beside her bed. She was petite, with short brown hair, a face full of freckles, and a cute button nose. Chloe got the strangest feeling of deja vu looking at her. Who the hell was she? And why the hell did Joyce not think it was weird for her to be here? The chick was cute, but she didn’t look like any of the other nurses.

Then Joyce nudged the girl awake. Her eyes opened.

Her blue eyes locked onto Chloe’s face.

Chloe’s heart damn near stopped.

It wasn’t possible. She _had_ to be dead. Had to be. Or else this had to be one long fucked-up dream. Maybe one long dying dream, in fact. The pain felt real, at least.

But seeing Max Caulfield, in the flesh, didn’t.

“Max?” The name out of Chloe’s mouth as a ragged whisper. “Max, is that...?”

She never got the chance to finish. Max was at her side in an instant. Her hand wrapped around Chloe’s wrist and Max buried her face into the side of Chloe’s neck. Chloe fought back tears, but they kept on falling. This girl, this bony-ass chick, was _her_ Max, come back to the Bay.

What kind of crazy world had she woken up in?

* * *

It hurt to talk. Actually, it hurt to do just about anything, but talking was difficult. Chloe had to choose between holding a conversation and being able to breathe. And whenever the nurses gave her some meds for the pain, it became impossible to do either. Her eyelids would get too heavy, her lips would get numb, and she’d pass out within a minute. And yet, as nurses changed shifts and the days passed by, only two faces remained constant.

Joyce came every night after work, and Max came every afternoon after class. Joyce would bring Chloe a rare treat from the diner or a memento from home. Max would race over after class, ready to shower Chloe with compliments and a dozen new photos she’d taken from her collection over the last five years. She’d become quite the little shutterbug, and Chloe couldn’t have been prouder. She tried to say as much, but as usual, the pain in her stomach matched the ache in her heart, and she kept her words to a minimum.

The only break in their little routine, as Chloe’s condition improved, was one late October morning. Chloe knew it was getting close to Halloween, judging by the fake cobweb and spider decorations she saw on the office wall outside her door. Max, meanwhile, had paused in her chatter about life at Blackwell to give her old friend a long, tired look.

“What’s wrong?” asked Chloe.

Max didn’t reply right away. She sat in her chair, hands clenched over her camera.

“Max, c’mon. Say something?” Chloe wheezed a little and added, “You’re freaking me out.”

“Chloe, I...” Max sniffled. Putting her camera on the floor, she used the motion to try and cover up the way she wiped her nose with her hoodie’s sleeve. But Chloe didn’t miss a thing. “I’m sorry,” said Max. “I’m an asshole.”

“Max, you’re not—”

“Yes, I _am_.” Max swallowed. “I was _there._  I was... I was in the bathroom, when y-you and Nathan were... I was there, Chloe!” Once the tears fell, her voice sped up just as fast. “A-and I never called you, and I left you all alone, and I’m _sorry,_ I’m so fucking sorry I never... I never...”

Chloe closed her eyes. “Max, please. For the... for the love of God, don’t say another word.”

Her friend—her best friend, Chloe reminded herself—shut up right away.

When Chloe opened her eyes again, she saw Max with wet cheeks. And now she couldn’t breathe for an entirely different reason. An old reason. One she hadn’t bothered to face ever since those first few days after Max and her family moved to Seattle. Those hours she spent curled up in bed, crying into a pillow as her body changed and all these horrible new thoughts and urges came screaming into her subconscious in the dead of night.

All because she _loved_ Max. And then Max had gone away.

Chloe didn’t love teenage Max anymore. That little girl had vanished with her parents. But this young woman sitting by her side, day after day without fail, was something she could love without a second thought.

After losing Max, Rachel, and her own father, at least Max had come _back._

“You’re not a bad person,” Chloe forced herself to say. The words came out as a raw scape from the back of her throat, but she made herself speak. “You’re Max freaking Caulfield. You came back and you moved on. And I...” She swallowed. “I got my dumb ass almost killed. And yet... and yet you still came here.” A bastard of a tear slid down Chloe’s cheek. She didn’t even try to wipe it away. “You came back, Max. You could’ve just sent some fucking flowers and candy.”

Max laughed, though it came out choked. Chloe didn’t care. She thought it sounded amazing. She giggled, too, even as she felt the tug of stitches in her gut and regretted it immediately. Then she held out her arms. Max didn’t even hesitate. She collapsed onto Chloe and wept into her shoulder, and Chloe stroked her friend’s adorably fluffy hair. Max’s weight on her body only added to the torment in her stomach. But for now, even that pain was worth the effort. She hadn’t smiled like this in a long time. Not for months.

This wasn’t anything like old times. But it was a start.


	2. Investigation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe struggles with the tragic news about Rachel Amber. Max brings a friend on her next visit to the hospital.

**2. Investigation**

A week after their reunion, Max decided to bring a friend with her to visit Chloe in the ICU. Of course, that was probably the worst day to pick.

As it was, hours later, Chloe was _still_ a mess after learning about Rachel Amber’s fate.

She’d burst into tears when Joyce had told her. She’d fired off a volley of insults at the nurse who’d come to check on her stitches, threatening her with an empty bedpan. Joyce had managed calm her daughter down, but Chloe couldn’t say another word to her. She’d cried into her mother’s chest like a little girl. The nurse had whispered something about checking in again later and beat a quiet retreat.

And so Chloe had sat there in bed, listening to Joyce and reading the horrible news on her phone. News about Nathan Prescott, who’d been arrested for shooting Chloe. And then the news that he’d testified against his partner-in-crime Mark Jefferson. Horrible, sickening revelations about some place called “The Dark Room.” The bleak truth about Rachel’s final hours.

In some strange way, when Joyce had left for work, Chloe realized she found some small comfort in knowing the truth. For months, she’d lived with a tiny, wriggling worm of doubt in the base of her skull. A skinny white worm that constantly whispered, _She’s gone ahead without you, ya dumb bitch. Didn’t you know she was playing you?_ But here was proof on her phone that Rachel hadn’t betrayed her. She’d just been turned into another victim. She’d trusted the wrong people and she’d paid for it with her life.

But that didn’t make Chloe feel better. It made her feel even shittier than before. Almost right away, she began counting back all the months she’d spent making posters and flyers for the missing girl. She began replaying every single memory she had of Rachel, looking for clues, looking for signs she’d missed along the way. Could she have done something? Could she have at least _tried_ to stop her, to intervene? Would anything she’d have done mattered?

Such was Chloe’s fucked-up headspace when Max finally showed up a little after four o’clock. Chloe barely noticed her come in. She did, however, notice the _other_ girl who followed Max and immediately resented her for being there.

But then Chloe did a double-take. “Oh, hey...” Her cheeks flushed as she tried to blink away unshed tears. “Uh, wow, it’s... it’s been a while...”

“Hello,” Kate Marsh replied, adding a little wave. “Nice to see you again, Chloe.”

She hadn’t changed from the student Chloe had briefly known during her time at Blackwell Academy. Kate was what she imagined would happen if God decided to turn a ray of sunshine into a human being. Her fluffy golden hair was always kept in a perfect bun, as modest as her black jacket and skirt, as shiny as the cross necklace she wore. Compared to Max’s geeky, self-conscious gait, Kate took each step with quiet, delicate precision.

Max took the other chair and dragged it over, planting herself between Chloe and Kate. She tried for a smile, but it faded the moment she looked over Chloe’s face.

“Did... did something happen?” she asked.

Chloe sniffled. She reached for the box of tissues on the side table and snagged a sheet to blow her nose with. Then she shook her head. “D-don’t worry about me, Maximus. I’m...” She sighed. “I’m having a shit day, okay?”

Max nodded. “Sure. No, look, I-I get it.” She looked down at her hands. Her fingers idly twisted themselves around each other. “Um, so Joyce texted me a little while ago.”

Dread filled the pit of Chloe’s stomach. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Chloe, I’m... I’m so sorry...”

Chloe bit back a response of _Don’t tell me you’re sorry._ Instead, she closed her eyes and nodded. “Th-thanks, Max. It, uh, it means a lot to hear it.”

An uncomfortable silence fell across the ICU, broken only by the faint beeps of heart monitors and the murmur of voices in the hallway outside. Chloe tried not to let her gaze linger on Max’s crestfallen face. She didn’t know what else she could say or do. And if she thought too much about Max leaving her all those years ago, her mind would start racing back to Rachel and she’d be a total basket case all over again. So she settled for looking over at Kate, who’d been quiet and observant the whole time.

“Hey,” Chloe managed to force out. “How, uh, how are _you_ holding up, sista?”

Kate bit on her bottom lip. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah? Just fine?”

“I... I think so.” Kate’s eyes dropped down to her lap, where one of her hands had started to shake. She waited for it to stop before she added, “I’ve had a rough morning, too, actually.”

Chloe chuckled. It still hurt her stomach to do so, but nowhere near what it had been before. “Yeah? Well, join the club.”

“Chloe...” Max’s warning tone made her look over at her friend. What she saw was a tired young woman, not at all like the scrawny kid she knew from before. More like she was seeing the younger version of Max’s mother, Vanessa Caulfield. Someone else Chloe hadn’t seen in forever.

“Sorry, sorry.” Chloe let her head fall back against her pillow. “Yeah, I heard about that shit, Kate. I... I’m super sorry. No one deserved that.”

She almost said _Rachel didn’t deserve that._ Chloe had read through a series of news articles on what everyone was now calling the Dark Room case. The police in Arcadia Bay had arrested Mark Jefferson and gotten the truth about his sick, evil photography dungeon hidden on one of Sean Prescott’s properties. They’d uncovered binders full of women, red folders stuffed full of black-and-white photos. Hundreds of pictures of drugged girls. Pictures of scared girls. Pictures of girls who’d gone missing, or who’d ended their lives out of shame.

Among the list of names they’d uncovered were the two most recent victims: Rachel Amber and Kate Marsh. Both had been drugged and abducted mere hours after they’d attended a party with Nathan fucking Prescott.

Chloe wasn’t religious, but if there was a God, then she prayed there’d be a circle of Hell deep enough for both Nathan and Jefferson.

Meanwhile, Kate had offered a smile. “Max tells me you’re mending nicely. I’m glad to hear that.”

It was hard not to smile back. Chloe shrugged and said, “Well, you know how it is. I used to be a Blackwell babe like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.” She laughed, even as fresh waves of pain coursed through her abdomen. “Maybe I should’ve just stayed in school, huh?”

“That’s not important,” said Max. “What matters is you’re here now.”

“Praying for me with Sister Kate, are ya?”

“Hey. Don’t tease her.”

Chloe raised her hands. “Hey, Girl Wonder, I’m _not._ I’m really not.” She turned toward Kate. “It might’ve been the drugs talking. I could’ve sworn I heard my mom mention you once or twice.”

Kate brightened, as did the rest of the hospital ward to Chloe’s eyes. “Joyce is a wonderful person. Max, um, told me about the extra hours she was taking at the Two Whales, and I figured that she wouldn’t be cooking much for herself. So I asked my friends at Meals on Wheels to add your house to our list.”

With a low whistle, Chloe slid a sly look over at Max. “Didn’t think we qualified for handouts. I knew the money was getting tight, but _damn._ ”

“You’re one to talk,” Max snapped back, even though she was grinning. “You can’t even walk around yet. Glass houses, much?”

Now _there_ was the Max Caulfield she remembered. Cute, small, and snarky. She could throw and return fire just as good as Chloe could dish it out. Chloe leaned forward with a smile. Doing so made her grunt against a sharp line across her stomach, and when Max nearly got out of her chair, Chloe conceded defeat. She dropped back into bed and sighed.

“Whoa,” she said. “Sorry to scare you like that, Maxwell.”

Max still leaned over her. “Are you okay? D-do you want me to get the nurse?”

Chloe waved her off. “Nah, don’t even. It’s, uh, it’s my own damn fault.” She flashed a weak grin over at Kate. “I’ve got company, so of course I’m gonna try n’ show off for her.”

She didn’t remember too much about Kate Marsh from her time at Blackwell, but the little blush she gave Chloe was an unexpected delight. It was obvious why she and Max had become such good friends. If Max had moved back to the Bay, she’d seek out someone equally shy and nerdy.

They talked for a little while longer. To her credit, Max steered clear of any subject relating to Rachel or the ongoing criminal investigation. She and Kate shared stories about campus life, and Chloe avoided any further abuse of her stitches by sitting and listening. With the fading sunlight entering the ICU through the nearest window, she couldn’t help but appreciate the heavenly glow on the two girls’ faces when they spoke. And Kate Marsh already dressed like she was an angel, so she fit the scene. Watching her and Max interact, Chloe kept wondering if she’d fallen asleep and was having another dream.

She wished she _were_ dreaming. Anything would have been better than waking up in a cold sweat, imagining the shooting all over again.

By the time the sun had set and the moon had come out, Chloe was ready to sleep for ages. She stifled a yawn in her throat, but that didn’t stop Max from flashing her a teasing smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Max quipped, “are we keeping you up?”

“Jerk,” Chloe responded. She closed her eyes for a second. “Go ahead. Make fun of the girl with the gaping stomach wound. Kate knows what happens to bad people like you. Don’tcha, Kate?”

Kate laughed, which surprised her. The modest girl shrugged. “Not really my place to judge. I’ve done some messed-up things, too.”

“I can’t wait to hear all about them.” Chloe winked. “Save ’em for next time, all right?”

“Sure thing,” Kate said, giggling.

They stood and pushed their chairs aside. Chloe’s heart thumped hard when Max leaned down to give her a hug. Chloe didn’t want to let go just yet. She tried to take a deep inhale of whatever shampoo and body wash her hippie photographer friend was using these days. Something she could use to build new, happier memories for a change.

Kate waved as they left. Chloe waved back. It wasn’t until she was alone again that she let her head fall back against the pillow. Her eyes drifted shut, and she warned her subconscious against traveling back to thoughts and memories of Rachel Amber.

Then she realized how impossible it was to keep that promise.

“Fuck my life,” she whispered.

* * *

The next morning, the day shift nurse came by to make her rounds. She helped Chloe sit up in bed and took her time examining her stitches. She was a small woman, with lines in her face and her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Chloe wondered if she was old enough to be a mother. She wondered—and then hated herself for thinking it—if the woman had a daughter old enough to have been made a victim of the Dark Room.

Instead, once the nurse had lowered the hospital gown back into place, Chloe asked, “Hey, uh, did I ever get your name?”

“It’s Caroline,” said the nurse. She offered a quick smile. “Caroline Winters.”

“Right, Caroline. Okay, cool.” Chloe blushed and looked away. “Um, sorry about, er, trying to hit you with a bedpan yesterday. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m kinda a mess.”

The older woman chuckled. “Don’t worry, dear. Believe it or not, you weren’t the first to try that on me.”

“Get a lot of junkies in here, do you?”

Caroline shrugged. “Sometimes, sure. We get all sorts here in the Bay. All shapes and sizes, all different colors.” She gestured to Chloe’s hair. “Though, if you don’t mind me saying, I think that shade of blue looks good on you.”

Heat rose in Chloe’s cheeks, and she stumbled for words. “Uhh... thanks?”

Holy crap, was this nurse hitting on her? Or had it just been that long since anyone her age had paid Chloe a compliment? She couldn’t decide which was the sadder option. Then she decided that she was done with being sad and pitiful. She’d had several months to get that out of her system. To get Rachel’s loss out of her head. To get over Max and her dad and every other shitstorm in her life. Her back-to-back encounters with Nathan were just the culmination of a long descent she’d been undergoing.

Earlier that morning, Joyce had stopped by on her way to the diner. She’d listened to Chloe relay the good news about meeting Kate Marsh again, and she’d praised the girl for providing some much-needed dinners. Chloe had tried not to get upset when she pictured Joyce and David sitting together at the table, eating someone else’s food and being generally miserable. For once, she actually felt a twinge of pity for David. She’d heard from Max how he’d charged into the bathroom to bust Nathan’s ass after he pulled the trigger. She’d asked her mom why he hadn’t gotten the courage to come and see her in the hospital. Joyce mentioned he was still reeling over the whole investigation. He’d spent so much time gathering dirt on Rachel and Kate that he’d missed the real culprits by a mile.

For once, Chloe didn’t feel like taking out her pain on her stepdad. He’d been through enough.

They both had, come to think of it.

Joyce had brought her something from David’s workshop in the garage. A birthday card that he’d given her, from the first year after Joyce had remarried. It was cutesy and colorful, and there was even a little stick figure drawing of Chloe with balloons. She didn’t remember getting it from David. Then again, she’d probably tried to forget all the good times they might have had. Hating him for butting into her life was easier. So much simpler. Just like how putting Rachel on a pedestal made her own life a little less shitty.

“He really does love you,” Joyce had said. She turned the card over in her hands. “I don’t think he’ll ever say it, but, well...” Her mother’s eyes had wrinkled with laugh lines. “Well, pride’s something the two of you got in common.”

Chloe had actually laughed at that. She couldn’t deny it anymore. She’d thanked Joyce for the card and asked her to say hi to David for her. Then watched as her mother put the birthday card on the side table by her bed.

Back in the present, Caroline was giving Chloe’s face and neck a few quick dabs with a sponge. She used some jasmine-scented soap that made the young woman’s nose tingle.

Chloe stared down at her reflection in the water basin that her nurse was using. She saw a girl who’d been through hell. A blue-haired punk with no color in her face, and heavy bags under her eyes. She looked as bad as she felt most days, and if she stopped to consider it, she’d probably looked that way for a long time now.

“Hey, Caroline?” she asked.

The nurse paused in her bathing routine. “Yes?”

“Can I ask your help with something?”

“Sure, Chloe. What do you need?”

“...I wanna try washing out this hair dye.”


	3. Rehab

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a little help, Chloe changes her look, starts physical therapy, and faces an unexpected visitor.

**3. Rehab**

Getting rid of hair dye, especially a top-notch brand like Manic Panic Bad Boy Blue, had its ups and downs. For instance, the upside of removing dye in a hospital was that nurses like Caroline had access to a shit ton of cleaning agents to work with. The downside, however, was that poor gutshot girls like Chloe had to be driven into the bathroom by wheelchair and then made to hold an awkward position over a sink. To make matters worse, Chloe found Caroline to be a rather nice companion. So when the pain ripping across her stomach got bad after a while, she couldn’t let out a stream of curse words like usual. She settled for biting the inside of her bottom lip and riding it out.

“Goodness,” said Caroline. “There sure is a lot of dye in here.” Her fingers kneaded through the tangles in her patient’s hair, her hands covered with Vitamin C-infused shampoo. “How long were you changing colors, sweetheart?”

“Heh, dunno.” Chloe squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated. “Gotta be, like... whoa, at least two years now?”

“Huh. Got an early start, then.”

“Yeah...” Chloe’s voice trailed off. Suddenly, the pain in her stomach was a welcome distraction from the pose she was holding. It didn’t do much, though, to stop her mind from slipping back to all those memories of dark teenage days.

Slipping back to meeting Rachel Amber.

They’d been delinquents together at Blackwell Academy. A couple of leggy blondes who were too smart for their own good and too easily bored with the popular kids. Rachel played innocent, but Chloe knew that she was more often than not the instigator. The dashing outlaw. She’d score weed and cigarettes at the drop of a hat. She’d taken the lead on decorating the little shack in the junkyard that they declared their sanctuary from the world of bullshit. And it was Rachel who’d awoken a string of new feelings in Chloe.

New, terrifying feelings. The kind of emotions that would leave her exploring her body in the dead of night, only to end up gasping, sweaty, and guilty a few minutes later.

Rachel’s smile was the thing that Chloe remembered the most. She was too much of a proud go-getter to resemble Chloe’s friend Max, but Rachel and Max had the same quiet, teasing smile. The kind of smile that made everyone’s heart skip a beat.

“Oh, dear!” Caroline pulled her fingers out of Chloe’s hair. She hastily wiped her hands with a paper towel. “I’m sorry. Did I get some in your eyes?”

“Huh? What are you talking about...?”

She couldn’t finish her question. She touched her cheeks. Chloe drew back her hand and examined the faint drops on her fingers. They weren’t stained blue or filled with soap. Just clear, ordinary water.

She blinked away further tears. Chloe sniffled and rubbed the back of her hand over her eyes. She took a deep breath. And then another. And another.

It was some time before she could respond to Caroline. “S-sorry. The pain’s kinda getting to me.”

Caroline nodded, like she really understood what was bothering her. “Sure thing. Tilt your head back for me? I’m almost done.”

Chloe did as she was told. This time, the pain in her abdomen didn’t overwhelm her as much. Neither did the trip down Memory Lane. She remembered all the good times with Rachel. All those late nights sneaking around each other’s houses, and those days when they played hooky to spray-paint someone’s wall or smoke behind the bleachers. It was like the grown-up version of all the hijinks she used to get into with Max. _Playing pirates,_ as their parents called it. Making up stories of buried treasure. Making their poor cat Bongo “walk the plank,” which was really just a sheet of cardboard hanging off the side of the couch. Just girls being girls, having fun and giggling about getting into trouble.

By the time Caroline had finished, Chloe was smiling again. She took the nurse’s hand and slowly got back onto her feet. After taking a breath, she let it out and turned to the mirror over the sink.

“Whoa,” she said.

Chloe marveled at the transformation. It was still her face, but paler than she remembered. There were still streaks of blue and pink along her roots, but what shone through now was a faint shade of her natural strawberry-blonde. She could even a few of her freckles a little better now. She looked younger now. More innocent.

What she said was, “I look like a hangover.”

“You’re still in recovery,” Caroline chided her. She leaned in, adding her gentle face to the mirror’s reflection. “But, hey. This was a good first step.”

“Yeah.” Chloe blushed and looked down at the blue-stained sink. “Um, thanks for this.”

“You bet. Ready to head back to your room?”

Chloe chuckled and gripped the nurse’s hand as she was led back to the wheelchair. “Okay, but we gotta pop a few wheelies on the way there.”

* * *

After another week, the doctors cleared Chloe to leave the ICU and get a regular hospital bed downstairs. With her injuries on the mend, she was ready to take the next step.

Literally.

Physical therapy was _not,_ however, as fun as she’d imagined it.

Every single goddamn nerve in her body screamed with each step she took. Her hands twisted into a white-knuckled grip along the parallel bars as Chloe dragged herself one step after another. Each step took an etenity to make. She had the worst case of vertigo, even though she was only on the second floor of the hospital. The therapy suite wasn’t all that big either. It was large enough for just the PT nurse Roxanne, a wheelchair, and a handful of exercise equipment.

“Goddamn motherfucking _asshole!_ ” Chloe snarled. She stood and wheezed for air. Her lungs were on fire. She kept breathing and holding onto the bars because those were the only thing holding her up. Someone had swapped out her legs and replaced them with brittle twigs, ready to snap any moment.

“C’mon now, you got this,” Roxanne declared. She was easily a head taller than Chloe, big-boned and full-faced. Her dark eyes tracked the young woman’s every motion. “C’mon, girl. How are you gonna make it on that catwalk if you can’t take another step?”

Chloe chuckled, and then regretted doing so when her stomach wound tried to murder her. She twisted herself over the parallel bar and took a few shallow breaths.

“These boots...?” she wheezed. “They... they ain’t made for walking runways...”

“Naw, that’s just your head messing with ya.” Roxanne didn’t offer the polite smiles and cool aunt vibes that Caroline did. She was all business, even when she made jokes. “Try it again.”

“Bitch...”

“Which would you rather do, cuss your brains out or get better?”

“Fuck _off..._ ”

Roxanne didn’t even flinch. She had Joyce’s iron will and David’s poker face. “You still got me for half an hour. It’s your choice how you wanna spend it, Chloe.”

Hearing the ultimatum in the nurse’s voice sent a shiver down Chloe’s spine. She took a long, ragged breath, let it out slowly, and nodded to herself.

When she lifted her eyes, she counted down from three and then heaved herself back onto her feet. Chloe wobbled in the air for a second, but her other hand found the other parallel bar. She waited until she was good and ready before she gingerly inched her left foot forward. Then her right foot. Left, then right. One after the other. Like learning how to walk all over again.

 _Hey,_ Chloe thought, _could be worse. At least I’m still toilet trained..._

At the other end of the parallel bars, where Roxanne stood off to the side, Chloe tried to picture her goal. Her mind drifted toward Rachel Amber, smiling and tucking a strand of hair behind her hair. That image made her knees buckle, but she kept her grips on the bar. Chloe fought to stay balanced. She fought for air and waited for the mental image of Rachel to pass.

Rachel was dead. Dead and re-buried in the cemetery. Another name on a memorial wall that some kids at Blackwell had set up to honor the Dark Room victims.

 _Rachel’s not coming back,_ a petulant voice whispered into Chloe’s ear. That same white worm of doubt, always chewing on the inside of her brain. _You could’ve at least joined her in death, you stupid bitch. Why go on living now?_

 _Well, fuck you, too,_ Chloe fired back.

Then she realized she was arguing with a voice in her head, and she gritted her teeth. No more distractions. Just focus on one more step. She had to stay positive. Find something good to think about. Find some _one_ who could lift her spirits. Someone who wasn’t the late Rachel Amber, no matter how painful it was to say that.

When she lifted her eyes to the other end of the parallel bars, Chloe took another breath. This time, she heard a young girl laughing. That laugh brought a smile to her lips.

What she imagined at the other end of the bars was Max Caulfield. In her mind’s eye, she saw Max in her gray hoodie and blue jeans, wearing some dorky pink t-shirt with a doe on it. She saw the light in Max’s eyes when the girl lifted her camera, her sadly retro Polaroid, and snapped a photo. Chloe heard Max laugh, imagined her laughing, as she took out the photo and waved it in the air a few times before smiling down at it.

Max’s smile matched Chloe’s smile. And when the girl—no, the young woman, Chloe corrected herself—looked up, her blue eyes were shining. They locked onto Chloe’s face and took her breath away. She couldn’t resist. She wanted to put her hands on those cheeks. She wanted to kiss that face. She wanted to hold that girl and never let go—

“There ya go!” Roxanne’s voice snapped Chloe back to the present.

When she stopped and looked down, she couldn’t believe it.

In her daydream, maybe no more than a second or two, she’d made it all the way to the other end of the parallel bars. Without even stopping. Without the least bit of pain ripping her stomach.

“Holy shit,” said Chloe. Then she doubled over and cringed. She’d spoken too soon about the pain being gone. “Okay, ow, ow, _ow..._ ”

Roxanne was at her side in a moment, helping her over to the wheelchair. Chloe took several labored breaths, but she couldn’t stop the delirious smile from spreading over her face. Everything below the neck was on fire, but she didn’t give a damn about that. Some kind of uber-powered endorphin buzz was flooding her nervous system, washing through the blazing line across her gut.

She felt like the goddamn Queen of the Universe as Roxanne wheeled her out of the room. Chloe didn’t have a word yet for this feeling, but she never wanted it to end.

* * *

Two nights later, Chloe’s pride over her rehab quickly dropped close to zero. Not that she wasn’t doing well—she’d pushed herself farther than Roxanne or the other specialists had guessed, with only minimal pain and fatigue—but it was who she found waiting for her at the hospital room when she was wheeled back in.

David Madsen stood by the window. When Roxanne pushed open the door, the squeal from Chloe’s wheelchair on linoleum tiles made David turn around. Chloe’s heart raced when she saw his face. For one, lingering second, she had a flash of utter contempt. How many times was this step-fucker going to keep bursting into her room unannounced? But the look on his face stifled whatever acid she was hoping to spew at him. He looked tired. So very, very tired. Even more fatigued than Chloe, and she’d been the one who been fucking shot, hadn’t she?

“Hey, soldier,” said David, in a surprisingly gentle voice. He lifted his hand, and now Chloe saw that he’d been holding something. It was a plastic bag full of something small and brown. “Your mother couldn’t make it tonight. Extra shift at the Two Whales. She asked me to bring you this.”

A quick sniff confirmed it. Brownies. Fresly baked brownies, in fact. Chloe grinned. “Mom sure is considerate.”

David nodded, smiling a little, too. He watched as Roxanne helped Chloe out of the wheelchair, steering her by the arms back into her bed. Chloe flinched when her back hit the mattress. She could feel her stitches pull, just a bit, just enough to really fucking hurt— _ow, ow, fucking ow, you bitch,_ she snarled inside her head—but she forgot the pain as soon as David rushed to her side.

“It’s... it’s fine,” Chloe insisted. She waved him off. Then she turned to Roxanne, sweating and gasping. “Um, got anything to ease the pain...?”

“Where it’s at, on a scale from one to ten?”

“Six!” Chloe winced. “Aargh. Def... definitely a six...”

Roxanne nodded. “I’ll get ya a lozenge. Hang tight.”

The nurse left her alone with David. Chloe grimaced and twisted her fingers into her bedsheets. Maybe, if she rode out this pain, David might disappear, too. But then she stopped herself from that train of thought. Thinking of David as that everpresent asshole in her life only served to remind her of how much fun and solace she sought from Rachel, and then the waterworks would kick in and she’d be a sobbing mess in front of her stepfather.

Huh. Stepfather. Somehow, it didn’t hurt to think of him that way now.

Roxanne came back with a lozenge and a cup of water. She helped Chloe sit up and take her meds. The chilled water damn near burned her throat, it was so cold. But after a minute, whatever painkiller she’d just taken began to work its magic. Her stomach turned numb, as did everything below the neck. Chloe sighed with relief and let Roxanne guide her head back against her pillow. David watched all this with a slightly concerned look, but said nothing, contributing even further to Chloe’s relief.

Maybe it was a sign of things to come.

“Th-thanks,” she groaned.

Roxanne nodded. “You rest up now, hon. Y’all did good today.” She shared a similar nod with David before leaving the room again.

When David turned back to Chloe, he spoke again with that unusual soft tone. “I’m sorry I, uh, couldn’t be here sooner.” His lips twitched upward, almost toward a smile. “Though I wouldn’t have blamed you if you didn’t want me around.”

“Heh...” Chloe took a breath to still her beating heart. “It’s cool, David. I mean, it’s not like I can refuse visitors or anything.”

“Joyce tells me you’re acing your PT. That’s... that’s real good to hear.”

“Sure sounds better than it feels.”

David nodded. “I’ll bet it does.”

They fell into an awkward pause. Chloe couldn’t remember the last time she and David had spoken this long without either an argument or a straight-up shouting match. Sometimes, when Joyce wasn’t around, those shouting matches ended with a slap across the cheek, usually from David on account of some biting remark Chloe had made. He’d try to apologize, try to justify himself, but all Chloe would remember was the hand across her face. Sure, it didn’t amount to getting shot, but at least she didn’t have to share a house with Nathan Prescott. And it wasn’t like her mother would believe her if she told on David.

Rachel would believe her, though. She’d know what to say to make Chloe feel better.

 _Rachel’s dead,_ the worm of doubt snickered in her head. _Who’s gonna fix you now, huh?_

 _Shut up,_ Chloe thought. _You’re not real. And you’re wrong. I’m getting better._

_So you say..._

After another deep breath, Chloe looked back at David. He sat hunched over in his chair, staring down at his hands. For a moment, she pitied him. She remembered what Max and Joyce had told her about the investigation. In public, David had testified in court against Nathan, where he’d been a hero. In private, he’d told Joyce about the months he’d spent gathering dirt on the wrong students, and how he felt like such a failure. Chloe could relate. With so much time to sit and think, she could see all the ways she’d fucked up along the way.

“Hey,” she said, fighting to speak over a raw, scratchy throat. “You, uh, did good back there.” When David looked up at her, she added, “With the, uh, y’know, the arrest. Someone finally put away that little scumbag Nathan.”

David nodded. “Yeah. Someone sure did...”

Chloe tilted her head. “Wasn’t that you? I-I thought I heard you got him after, uh...”

She couldn’t quite say _After he shot me._ It was on the tip of her tongue.

With a shake of his head, David did his best to look everywhere but Chloe’s face. “Yeah, I did. I did the right thing. For now.” He shrugged. “Christ, I don’t know how I could’ve been so stupid.”

“The hell you talking about, man? You, uh, busted that Dark Room shit wide open.”

“Right after I let _this_ happen?” David gestured to Chloe’s hospital bed. When he looked up, when he finally could look in the eye, she saw tears in his eyes. She heard the crack in his voice.

And then she finally got it.

“Jesus...” Chloe chewed on her bottom lip. “I... David, you’re not responsible for this. You didn’t _make_ me go into that bathroom. That was all me. Just me an’ that little shitbird.”

“Chloe, I missed all the warning signs!” The crack in his voice got worse by the second. David’s red eyes shifted back to the floor. He squeezed his hands together as though he could somehow force time to rewind itself, so he could take it all back. “You think I didn’t know about the rumors? ‘Nathan Prescott’s selling drugs. Nathan’s taking drugged girls back to his room. Nathan’s rich daddy owns the cops.’ I’ve heard it _all._ And I didn’t do a goddamn thing about it.” He sniffled and ducked his head. Chloe almost missed what he said next.

“Your friend. Rachel Amber? I could’ve saved her.”

Now Chloe’s heart did sink. She had to squeeze her eyes shut and fight back a rush of tears.

“Don’t...” she whispered. “Don’t talk like that. You start, and then I’m gonna be here blaming myself for the same shit.”

David laughed. It was a shaky, tear-filled laugh, but it was real. “Guess we got that in common.”

Chuckling, Chloe opened her eyes again. “Yeah. Guess so...”

They hit another pause in the conversation, but it wasn’t anywhere as long or as painful as before. Chloe found her eyes drifting over to the window, where she could look out at the twinkling lights of Arcadia Bay. She’d hated this town for so long. Sometimes, with good reason. She’d hated any place that would kill off good, hard-working people like her dad and let rich assholes like the Prescotts do as they pleased.

But that was all in the past now. The world had changed in the weeks Chloe had spent in the hospital. Every day, Max and Kate would visit. They’d bring Chloe news of the good things going on now. The end of that hellish Vortex Club. The downfall of the Prescotts. Mark Jefferson’s criminal trial. A shit-ton of new laws and policy changes to protect young girls like Kate and Rachel. Even total strangers were contributing to the Marsh and Price families. Joyce was getting more tips and kind gestures from her customers than she’d gotten in years. At this rate, she’d told Chloe she could hire a few more waitresses and cooks in a month.

And it had only taken Chloe to face the worst day of her life for everything to get better.

“David?” Chloe raised her voice, waiting for the man who’d married her mother to look her in the eye again. “Hey. I’m... I’m glad you’re here to look after my mom.”

David drew back in surprise. Then, slowly, he smiled. “Thanks.”

“I mean it,” Chloe insisted. “You gave her something I couldn’t, man. I was, uh, too fucked up to be useful, y’know?”

David nodded. “I do.” He paused, and then added, “I’ve, uh, had my share of rough nights. It’s not easy coming home from war.”

Chloe had never really asked him about those days. She’d only ever thought of him as some A-hole drill sergeant. Never as an actual veteran. But now she could see it in him. The way he carried himself. The shaking in his voice when he talked about the past. The pain of failing someone. Failing her. Failing Rachel. Failing all those kids at Blackwell. Joyce had only told her about the guilt trip he’d been on, but it hadn’t been real to Chloe until this very moment.

She took another breath and said, “Someday, I’ll ask you about that.” Then, with a wry smile, “But not tonight. I’m gonna pass out in a second or two.”

David chuckled. “Sure. You rest up now.”

“Yeah. And thanks for the brownies.”

He nodded and stood up from his chair. Chloe hesitated before she slipped a hand out from under the covers. With a lick of her lips, she held it out at her stepfather.

David hesitated, too. Then, with a gentle smile he’d rarely turned her way, he took her hand and gave it a squeeze. Chloe squeezed back. They stood like that for a long moment, smiling at each other through tear-filled eyes. Then David mumbled a goodbye and left the room without looking back.

Chloe closed her eyes. She didn’t care that she was crying again. It felt good, strangely enough. Kinda fucked-up, but that was okay, too.

Only a few more days to go, she reminded herself. Only a few more days before she could walk on her own.

There was someone she needed to see.


	4. Discharge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe finally makes it out of the hospital. But she's not prepared for the new world.

**4\. Discharge**

It had taken the better part of a month to get this far. Chloe was still in shock over how short the time between getting shot and getting better had been. Like, really fast. She could’ve sworn she’d been in the hospital for ages. And yet, here she stood, leaning on a cane like a real goddamn pimp, watching her doctor prescribe some meds for the chronic pain. Chloe was sorely tempted to ask if he could prescribe some other “chronic,” if he caught her meaning, but that was wishful thinking. There wasn’t a medical marijuana dispenser within a hundred miles of town.

Chloe wasn’t wearing the outfit she’d been shot in. The paramedics had cut up her t-shirt. Her jeans now looked more bloodstained than blue. On her last visit, Joyce had brought along a bag full of clothes from Chloe’s closet. A green sweater, dark slacks, and a pair of black boots as a small concession to her daughter’s punk sensibilities. It was hella awesome to be back in boots. They kept her steady on her feet, even more than the cane did.

And, naturally, to cap it off, she had to wash and put on her old black beanie. Chloe snickered at the pun. _Heh, “cap” it off is right..._ But really, she felt so weird going out in public with her hair a totally different color now. Going blue had been her manifesto, just like the tats and the bullet necklace. Now her hair was blonde again, and the bullet necklace was stashed in her pocket.

Hours later, she stood near the reception desk in the hospital lobby. Caroline was busy filing the last of the discharge forms. Joyce stood by Chloe, her hand on her daughter’s arm, squeezing it rhythmically. Chloe took some small comfort in the gesture.

Every time she glanced back at the sliding doors, her breath caught a little.

Truth be told, she was terrified to leave.

It wasn’t that Chloe _liked_ being in the hospital. She didn’t like sitting around in a bed or having nurses interrupt her sleep to run tests. And she sure as hell didn’t like the pitying looks she got from every visitor she had. Unintentional, they’d insist. Yeah, sure they were.

But even so, Chloe knew that the world she’d had a month ago was gone now.

 _Gone and buried, just like Rachel,_ the white worm of doubt teased.

Chloe winced at the thought. She took a deep breath and readjusted her grip on the cane. A small part of her felt badass while she held it. Sure, it was just a mobility aid, something to keep her balance. But the part of her that was eight years old wanted to pretend it was the kind of weapon some pirate lord or warrior king would carry into battle. She allowed herself a small grin, remembering all the make-believe swordfights she and Max had staged when they were young. Swiping the air with sticks, candy canes, and cardboard tubes. Whatever was at hand.

Maybe, if she were lucky, the fair Miss Caulfield would be up for a long-overdue rematch.

“You ready, hon?” Joyce’s voice brought Chloe back into the present. Back to sterile white walls and linoleum floors. Back to Caroline’s warm smile and wink as she left them alone.

Back to the terrifying new world.

Chloe let out a breath. She nodded and pivoted on her heel.

The cane made a satisfying thump against the floor. She took a moment, and then she took one step forward. And then another. And another. Just like she’d practiced with Roxanne over the last week and a half. One, two, one, two, and through and through.

“S-sorry if I’m going slow for ya,” Chloe remarked. She tried not to look at the other people in the lobby, the families and future patients waiting to be admitted.

Joyce chuckled, but there was no real life in the sound. “Don’t you worry about a thing. You just go at your own pace, sweetie.”

Chloe’s heart fluttered. It’d been a while since her mom had spoken like this. Or maybe she always had, and Chloe had just never bothered to listen. And that was truly a sad thought. She almost stopped dead in her tracks.

 _No,_ she insisted. _Gotta keep going. C’mon, Price!_

She planted her cane forward again, and took another step. Her stomach’s stitching had healed, downgraded on the pain scale from “Maximum Overdrive” to the milder level of “Tears in the Rain.” Enough to occasionally hurt, but not so bad as to make her skin feel like it was about to rip open and spill out all her intestines.

Step by step, minute by minute, the two Price women made their way across the lobby. Chloe took a deep breath as the front doors slid open.

She almost laughed.

Arcadia Bay hadn’t changed a bit since she’d been in recovery. Seagulls wheeled overhead and cawed to one another. The air smelled of engine grease, trash, cigarettes, and a hint of ocean spray. When she looked past the parking lot, Chloe saw aging trucks and minivans driving by. The kind she’d passed hundreds of times before, carrying moms and their kids, or wild teens looking for a good time on someone else’s dime. She’d half-expected to see the Bay a little cleaner now that all the Prescott filth was being washed away. But maybe it was too much to hope for that to change in a month’s time.

“It suits you, you know,” Joyce commented as she led Chloe over to the car.

“What does?”

Her mother’s eyes sparkled. “Bein’ happy.” A shadow crossed her face. “I know we haven’t gotten along as well these past few years, Chloe. I... I know you haven’t forgiven me about David and everything, but I—”

Chloe didn’t let her finish. She nearly dropped her cane in her mad scramble to throw her arms around her mother. Joyce stiffened, but she returned the hug just as quickly. Chloe buried her face into her mother’s neck, squeezing herself in as much as she could, stitches and flaring pain be damned.

“Mom, I’m fuckin’ sorry,” she whispered. She prayed Joyce wouldn’t hear the tears in her voice. “I am... I am so sorry...”

“Oh, baby, it’s all right.” A strong hand brushed itself through Chloe’s hair, the part that the beanie didn’t cover up. “Shh. It’s all right, it’s all right now. You’re alive. That’s _all_ I care about. You understand? I’m just so happy you’re here.”

Now Chloe couldn’t win that battle with the tears. They soaked into her mother’s blouse, and she felt so guilty about ruining it. Again, this was the new world she didn’t like. The world where she let herself be vulnerable in public. Where she let her mother hold and soothe her, instead of standing aloof and scowling at the shit pit that was the Bay. Where she wept like a little girl instead of snarling insults at anyone who looked at her funny.

“I’m...” Chloe struggled past the hitch in her throat. “I’m gonna do better, Mom. I promise. I-I’ll go back to school next spring, I’ll pay my debts, I’ll pay it all back, okay? I’ll... I’ll...”

“Chloe, it’s fine.” Joyce hugged her, and Chloe ignored the agony tearing her stomach. It couldn’t compare to the heartbreak she was enduring. “We’ll figure this out together. Go at our own pace.”

“Okay.” Chloe pulled back and wiped the snot from her nose with her sleeve. She let out an awkward giggle. “Th-thanks. Just, thanks, I guess.”

Joyce kissed Chloe on the cheek, then lifted her hand to caress it. “Love you, angel. Now, let’s get going. You deserve a nice long break from this nightmare.”

Chloe didn’t say, _The nightmare’s been goin’ on for years._ She didn’t say, _Have you seen my room lately? Nightmare chic is where it’s at._ And she didn’t say, _Rachel’s dead. How am I gonna wake up from that?_

What she said was, “Okay. Let’s go.”

* * *

The road leading back to their house was long and winding, cutting past the edge of a murky forest on one side and offering breathtaking views of the ocean on the other. Joyce’s car hit one or two bounces on the road that made Chloe suck in a sharp lungful of air, and every time, Joyce shot her a worried look. Chloe waved her off every time it happened. After that little cry-fest back at the hospital, she needed to regain some street cred. Show the world she could be a hardcore survivor instead of a lonely punk wannabe. It’d be the sort of thing that would make Max proud. At least, she hoped it would.

In her head, the worm of doubt chuckled and made fun of how thirsty she was. Chloe ignored it. She kept her eyes on the road. After all these weeks, it was great just being in motion again. No wheelchair could compare to the family sedan cruising along at forty-five miles per hour.

“I’m surprised you got a day off for this,” Chloe remarked. She slid her gaze over to the windshield. The midday sun cast enough light for her to see her mother’s reflection in the glass.

“Oh, trust me, they couldn’t get me out that door fast enough,” Joyce replied with a laugh. Her hands—when had they gotten so spotted and wrinkled?—were steady on the wheel. Her eyes never left the road, and she wore a comfortable smile that Chloe hadn’t seen in a long time. “You remember Sandra Baker? Old Tommy’s little girl? Well, she started working at the Two Whales just last week. Been running it like a dream ever since. I’ve never had so much free time in all my life, if you can believe that.”

Neurons fired in Chloe’s brain, trying to piece together the name with a face she knew. She thought she remembered Sandra. Some neighbor’s daughter. Cute kid. Long black hair, small eyes. Had a brother with a dreamy smile that made Chloe want to jump his bones on more than one lonely afternoon.

Then again, that had been a few years ago. For all she knew, Sandra had turned out to be just as dreamy, too. Wouldn’t that have been a fun coincidence? _Sorry, Mom, your new server’s gonna be late ’cause of how long we’ve been banging all night..._

Chloe giggled, though she couldn’t tell her mother why. Instead, she covered for the laugh and said, “Hey, seriously, Mom. That’s great. That’s hella spectacular.”

Joyce chuckled. “Yes, well, it’s not all spring daisies right now. David is still helping out with the investigation. He told me they’re asking for _your_ testimony on...” She shuddered. “Oh, I can’t even say it now.”

“On what? Getting shot the fuck _up?_ ”

“Language, Chloe! Honestly...”

“Yeah, okay. Sorry. Old habits.”

“Bad habits is more like it.”

“I said _sorry,_ Mother, didn’t I?”

It pained Chloe at how familiar these exchanges had become. Back and forth, round and round with Joyce. Sometimes, in her darkest moments, when the doubt chewed away inside her skull, she’d almost hated Joyce for even giving birth to her. Better to be stillborn and guiltless than have to go through the living hell of losing her dad, losing her best friend, flunking out of school, and _then_ losing the first girl she’d ever seriously fallen for. There’d been only one occasion when Chloe had even tried, but she’d been too chickenshit to follow through. She’d imagined Rachel turning up out of the blue, had imagined Joyce weeping over her, and so she’d stopped to wash her wrists and bandage them up fast.

If her mother or Max had noticed the scars on her wrists in the hospital, they at least knew better than to say anything about it. Chloe had been miserable enough.

Letting out a sigh, Chloe glanced back through the windshield. She saw more familiar signs now. The old neighborhood of Cedar Lane coming back into view. Where she and Max had once played together. Where they’d played pirates in the backyard and rocked out to late Nineties pop songs on the radio. Where they’d goofed around on the swing set that their dads had built, and then had long, heartfelt talks about the future.

Max had wanted to be a badass photographer. Maybe she was now. Chloe would’ve loved that. Sadly, she hadn’t turned out to be the loyal bodyguard and sidekick to said photographer. Her life had taken a much different course since she’d been that little.

“Look, if it’ll help put the Prescotts and Jefferson away,” she finally said, “I’ll testify.”

“Chloe.” Her mother’s voice had gone strained. “You really don’t have to—”

“Uh, I really do, though.” Chloe licked her lips. The air inside the car had gotten dry all of a sudden. “I mean, like, I’m never setting foot in a damn courtroom. Screw that. I’ll just send a written statement or something. Let David give ’em that much, all right?”

Joyce nodded. “Well, it’s your choice, dear. Just let us know how we can help, all right?”

Ah, there it was again. That gentle, loving voice she hadn’t heard in so long. Not after all the reproaches and the _I-told-you-so’_ s she was used to hearing.

It seriously hurt that she’d been feeling this shitty for so long. She was done. She was ready for something new now. Something good.

And Chloe knew exactly where she was going to start.

* * *

“Oh, shit, check it out!” The stoner’s voice was as groggy as his beard was scraggly, cutting through the mid-autumn air. “The hero of the hour’s back at Blackwell, you guys!”

Chloe lifted her chin at the skater posse. “What up, bad boys! You thrashin’ or just killing time?”

It’d been at least a year since she’d attended school at Blackwell Academy. She was pleased to see what it hadn’t really changed since then. The main quad was still lined with willowy trees, there were students and squirrels alike dashing about the fountain, and, as always, a small contingent of skaters and ne’er-do-wells lounged by the front steps. The air around them always reeked of body spray and weed. In other words, they were Chloe’s preferred tribe. Her brothers from a bunch of different mothers.

Justin Williams, sitting at the edge of the group, tipped his baseball cap at her. “Fuckin’ gnarly, Price! You took a bullet for us all, ya know? You’re like the guardian angel for everyone who fuckin’ hated those poser preps.”

“Yeah, that’s one way to put it, caveman.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “You tell your girlfriend that?”

When she close enough, she reached out, and Justin gave her the usual mid-level high-five and rebound, followed by a fist bump. Chloe grinned at the sensation. She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed this.

“Naw, ain’t no girl for me,” Justin replied. His eyes drifted down, and then back over his shoulder, at where Trevor and the other boys were practicing tre flips. “I lost out to T-Dawg over yonder, you dig? Threw away my shot on gettin’ with Dana Ward.”

It took a second or two for Chloe to place that name. Dana Ward was a cheerleader, which naturally made her an easy recruit for that hellhole clique, the Vortex Club. Which was a shame, because she was easily prettier than most of the other snobby bitches in that group, Victoria Chase being their supreme queen and demon godmother. And now that she thought about it, she thought she’d heard Max mention Dana as her dorm neighbor once or twice. Good for Max. Maybe the cheerleader wasn’t so bad after all, if you didn’t count ignoring Justin’s crush.

“Ahh, keep your head in the game,” Chloe said with a grin. “You’re too cool for that clique. Find yourself a nice stoner girl who’s crazy for anime.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Justin laughed and threw his head back. “You real smooth, Chloe Price. You must get ladies like every week!”

“Ha! I wish!” Chloe laughed, but her heart wasn’t in it. Her eyes drifted over to the edge of the quad, where she noticed a small sign and a path leading out. “Hey, uh, you seen Max Caulfield around? I gotta pop in and give her a quick shout-out.”

“Oh, shit, you know Max?”

“We go way back, man. Like, pre-Rachel.”

“Aww, shit.” Justin shook his head. “Damn, girl. I’m real sorry ’bout Rachel. She was _killer._ ”

Chloe flinched at his choice of words, but still, she nodded. “Yeah, she sure was.”

“Well, go on up to the girls’ dorm. I figure Max is in her room, like, studying n’ all.”

Made sense. Max always was the better student, though Chloe could still ace any science lab or research project you put in front of her. Brains _and_ beauty. _You gotta go for the whole package these days..._

“Thanks, Justin.” Chloe offered him another fist bump. “You watch out one of these days. I’ll be back with my old deck in no time at all.”

“Hells yeah! Can’t wait to see you thrash, action girl!” Justin shot a pair of finger guns at her. “Later!”

* * *

Her pep talk with Justin left Chloe in good spirits. She took her time walking through the rest of the dormitory part of campus, her cane leaving a little pitter-patter on the pavement. Nothing but blue skies and sunshine on a chilly November morning. Some Bigfoots were throwing around a football in the courtyard outside. A plus-size girl with awesome purple hair sat by herself on a bench, engrossed in a trashy girl’s novel. That kooky old janitor—Samuel, she thought his name was—flashed her a smile and a knowing look as he swept a broom over the girls’ dorm steps.

“You watch your step,” he said cheerfully, albeit with a slight stutter. “Old Samuel knows a lot about not paying attention. B-before you crash, that is.”

“Thanks for the tip,” Chloe answered. Then, with a wink, she added, “You let me know if my cane leaves any scuff marks on the floor, ’kay?”

Samuel laughed and went back to sweeping up. Chloe left him behind as she entered the dorm.

Ten minutes later, she came to a hard stop at the top of the stairwell. Breathing hard and red-faced, Chloe twisted to the side and slumped against the nearest wall. Her cane was the only thing holding her up anymore. With each short, ragged breath, her knees buckled. One wrong move, and she’d go tumbling. Probably crack her head on the stairs, too. Fan-fucking-tastic. Another mess for the janitor, and brain damage for her. Like she wasn’t fucked enough already.

“Come on, Price,” she wheezed to herself. “Come on, get your shit together. Man up and walk through that door...”

Grabbing her cane, she twisted herself back around and pushed herself up the last step. Her hand pressed onto the door that led into the dorm hall. A minute later, Chloe was studying a map of the rooms on the wall to her right. She recognized almost all the names she saw there. Victoria Chase. Kate Marsh. Dana Ward. Her heart strings tugged a little when she saw a noticeable blank space over one room, right where she knew—she absolutely _knew_ —that the name Rachel Amber would have been. That spasm deep within her soul disappeared a few seconds later. Chloe readjusted her grip on the cane. She had to smile when she finally saw Max Caulfield’s listing.

Room 219, all the way at the other end of the hall.

Hobbling across the floor, Chloe checked to see if anyone’s door was open along the way. She’d picked a quiet time of day, when most classes wouldn’t be in session. It didn’t surprise her to hear the muffled thumps of techno beats and pop song bass coming through many closed doors. Chloe allowed herself one small victory when she heard the hip hop jams coming from Victoria’s door, right across the hall from Max’s room, and flipped the bird at that particular door.

Damn Vortex Club queens. Damn them for unleashing that snot-nosed bastard Nathan. Damn them for luring in all of Mark fucking Jefferson’s victims.

 _Good to get that out of your system?_ the little worm of doubt snickered.

 _You know what, yeah, it was,_ Chloe responded, adding a cheeky grin. She spun slowly on her heel and lifted her cane one more time.

No sound coming from Max’s room. No music or TV blaring. But she _did_ hear someone moving around. Chloe nodded to herself. If she knew her old friend, then there was no way in hell that she’d have locked her door. Ever the innocent flower child.

In one swift motion, Chloe grabbed the handle, twisted it, and thrust the door open. She raised her cane into the air, a huge grin splitting her cheeks, and she cried out, “Surprise, bitch!”

Then she froze.

On the bed, Max and Kate froze, too.

It took a long, agonizing second for the synapses in Chloe’s brain to start working again. It took another stretch of eternity before she realized that the two girls were, in fact, sitting close together. _Very_ close together. With their hands on each other’s faces and their lips locked into a fierce struggle. Kate’s perfect bun was showing a few loose strands, and Max’s freckled cheeks were flushed and sweaty.

“Oh,” said Chloe. She blinked, not entirely sure what to do.

“Oh, shit,” she said, leaning on her cane. She barked out a laugh, far too high-pitched. “Soooo... guess who’s out of the hospital?”


	5. Solace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max explains how she and Kate became a couple. Chloe wrestles with how she feels.

**5\. Solace**

On the surface of it, nothing in Max’s dorm room seemed out of the ordinary. Max sat next to Kate on her bed, now farther apart from each other, and spoke to Chloe, who sat on the couch across the room. Outside the window, birds were flitting past, leaving tiny, flickering shadows across the carpet, and the wind coming in rustled the leaves of a majestic fern that sat in the corner by Max’s desk.

But deep down, nothing about this get-together was ordinary. Far fucking from it.

“So, um,” Chloe tried to ask. “When did this, uh, happen?”

Max pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her finger left a long, anxious trail down the side of her face. “Er, about... about a month ago...”

Chloe’s brows knitted together. “Shit. When I was in the hospital?”

“Yeah.” Max’s entire face flushed. “S-sorry I didn’t mention it sooner—”

“That’s not—” Chloe bit back the first of her response. It wouldn’t be good manners to just leap up and snarl _That’s not cool, asshole._ This was Max Caulfield she was talking to, not some posh airhead from the Vortex Club. And as much as her stomach rolled whenever she cast a glance in Kate’s direction, a stab of guilt kept Chloe turning back to Max right away. For all her faults, the sweet Christian girl didn’t deserve any of Chloe’s wrath either. She’d been through enough hell as it was, hadn’t she?

Hadn’t they all been through enough? Drugged abductions left and right. Getting shot. Best friends bleeding out on bathroom floors and buried in junkyards. None of it was fucking fair. Chloe could see that now. That little cocoon of bile and anger she’d lived in for five years was starting to fall apart, one itty bitty flake after another.

The Chloe of five years ago—hell, of even one _month_ ago—would never have sat down and talked things over with David. Would never have accepted that Rachel might have been in some kind of twisted relationship on the side with Mark Jefferson of all people.

After taking a breath, Chloe closed her eyes and waited for her nerves to settle. _Gotta chill, girl. More James Bond, less Incredible Hulk._

“It’s not my business,” Chloe finally said. She shrugged at Max, then glanced at Kate. “I guess I just didn’t expect to barge in and find... well, a full-on yuri makeout session.”

Kate’s face turned an appealing shade of red. She averted her eyes, and Max reached out to calm her with a hand on her wrist.

“Really? Coming from you, Chloe?” Max scoffed. “I’ve heard some fun stories from Joyce...”

Chloe’s eyes dropped to the carpet. “Okay, okay. You got me. I’m Little Miss Hypocrite, too. Case dismissed, Judge Caulfield.”

Even five years later, Max was still one of the few people who could give Chloe flak for some of the shit she pulled. As small and geeky as she was, she could get a little fire in that skinny booty that could’ve burned down the house.

Geez, how long had it been since they’d had a proper fight? Since long before her dad’s—

Chloe stopped herself on that train of thought. Then, she forced herself to think it. Her dad’s death. The car accident that ended his life. That took him away from her.

_And from Joyce,_ a voice in her head, not unlike Max’s voice, reminded her. _Don’t forget her._

“C-can I say something?”

Kate’s voice was so soft that neither Max nor Chloe almost heard it. The two other girls looked over at Kate, who had continued to quietly shuffle her way down the side of the bed. Within a heartbeat, she’d be right beside the door. Chloe could only imagine how badly she must’ve wanted to get up and bolt back to her own room. Hide out until this awkward moment died away. Another pang of guilt struck her, although that might’ve been the stitches and staples in her gut flaring up. Hard to decipher which was which anymore.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Kate continued. She kept her eyes low, as if so embarrassed to even be speaking. “It’s just... I-I know how this must look, Chloe. How much of a shock it must come to you. Believe me, I was pretty shocked, too. It’s not...” She sighed and tried for a smile at the girl across the room. “It’s not exactly how I raised to be, you know?”

_Oh,_ Chloe thought. _Oh, shit, I didn’t even consider that. Christ... literally._

“Hey, Kate, I’m not mad.” Chloe swallowed. That was a lie. She _was_ mad, but if she were being honest, it wasn’t at either of the girls. More like she was mad at the whole goddamn world, but this wasn’t the place to get into that. “I do get it, ’kay? I’m not exactly Dr. Phil here, but, like, you don’t have to justify yourself. Certainly not who you’re gonna love.”

Kate blinked. “Oh. Um, th-thanks for that.”

“No prob.”

“So, are we cool?” Max asked.

“Well, I mean, you’re both lovable dorks, so I’d say—”

“Chloe!” Her name came out as an exasperated laugh. “I mean, you and me. Are _we_ cool?”

A couple of seconds ticked by as Chloe struggled to find the words. She hadn’t talked this way to people who weren’t Rachel in a long-ass time. She and kid-sized Max had talked this way a lot, but then the Silent Era had started up between them.

_Still beating Max up for that?_ that snotty voice of doubt called out. _I don’t remember you ever picking up the phone yourself. Too busy to even send a postcard?_

Ouch. Now Chloe _did_ feel that. Definitely couldn’t blame the war wound on that fresh agony.

Sucking in a breath, she nodded and said, “Yeah, Mad Max. We’re cool.” Then, with a sad smile, she added, “And we’re back in action, okay? I mean, I still gotta get some R and R...” She lifted her cane for effect. “But once that’s done, I just wanna go back to having adventures with my best bud, you know?”

Max sniffled. Oh, geez, was she actually gonna cry? Chloe was about to apologize profusely, but the other girl waved her down. “That’s... that’s all I needed to hear. Good to have you back, First Mate.”

Heat rose in Chloe’s cheeks, and she ducked her face to hide it. How could that skinny nerd make her heart skip a beat with just a _look?_

They settled into a comfortable silence for a moment. Then Chloe looked between Max and Kate and asked, “So, if you don’t mind me asking, how’d you two even hook up?”

“I... we didn’t exactly...” Kate looked so flustered that Chloe almost laughed.

“Sorry, sorry!” Chloe grinned at her. “Poor choice of words.”

“It’s a bit strange,” Max admitted, now smiling, too. She tucked some hair behind her ear again. “You, uh, know much about what happened after Nathan got arrested?”

“A little.” Chloe frowned. Bits of information floated up to the surface of her brain. She’d read a few news stories and gotten details from Joyce and David. “He gave up his fellow fuckboy Jefferson and the cops snagged him later that day.”

Max bit her lip. “Y-yeah. I saw that happen.” Without even looking, she reached out her hand. Kate frowned before she wrapped her hand around Max’s and squeezed tight. “We both did. That was... that was when Kate told me what she’d been through.”

“Jesus.” Chloe winced. “Er, sorry again, Kate. I hella can’t talk today.”

“It’s fine.” Kate had scooted back to Max, never once letting go of her hand. A flicker of misery in her eyes. Chloe hadn’t seen the photos that Jefferson and Nathan had taken of her. Those images deserved to be burned. Every last one of them. Including and especially Rachel’s.

“When I saw him, when they arrested him, I was kinda a mess. I... I needed a friend. And Max was there.” She sniffled, but instead of tears, a smile came out on her face. “You can imagine how torn up she was. After seeing wh-what Nathan did... what he did to you... she needed a friend, too.”

Chloe reached up to wipe away a tear. “I... I’m glad to hear you were there. Thanks, Kate. I hella owe you one.”

“You’re welcome.”

“So... I get the hand-holding and the bonding. But when did, uh, the sparks fly, so to speak?”

Max laughed. “It wasn’t like that, Chloe. Our, um, relationship isn’t exactly official.”

Chloe frowned. Her gaze darted between the two girls, who were still all nervous smiles. “Wait, hold up. I’m lost. Are y’all a steady couple or not?”

“We’re together,” Max explained. She lifted her hand, which still held Kate’s. “After that day, we started sticking close to each other. Talking every day. Walking each other to class. Getting tea together. Crashing on each other’s couches. It was... easier that way.”

“I’ll bet.” Chloe eyed Kate, hoping to trigger another adorable blush. “Still doesn’t explain how you two got to first base in less than a month.”

Kate ducked her head. “Th-that was my fault, actually.”

Chloe’s brows shot up. “Oh? Do tell, sistah.”

“Don’t make fun,” Max warned, even though she smiled. “She just wanted to try it. To feel better about herself.”

Chloe nodded at Kate. “And did you?”

All she got was a shy nod back. Max looked over at the other girl and squeezed her hand again. Kate smiled and scooted a little closer. Now their legs were almost touching. If not for all the confusion bubbling up in her stomach, Chloe would’ve let out a squee over how fucking cute they were. If pressed, she’d deny she was confused. But deep down, she was suspecting that something else was going on with her headspace. And Chloe felt guilty about interrupting what seemed like a nice little rendezvous between two committed girlfriends.

She let out a tiny laugh, less awkward than the one she’d made after walking in on them. “I’m kinda jealous. You two look like you were having a good time before my dumb ass showed up.”

Max giggled. “It’ll be fine. Just learn to knock first.”

“I’ll get right on that, Captain.”

“Good to hear it, First Mate.”

They giggled, and Chloe fought the urge to start crying. It really was like old times again. For one brief second, all the bullshit and bullet wounds were gone. Just Max and Chloe, the dynamic duo goofing around the lot outside the Two Whales and building pirate forts near the lighthouse. Like they’d never grown apart.

_Look at her,_ Chloe thought. _She’s moved on. She’s got Kate. I gotta do the same._

She knew where she had to go next. Just thinking about it sent chills down her spine, but she knew. She couldn’t put this off any longer.

_Not today,_ she promised herself. _I’m too fucked up to go near that place today._

Chloe drew a shuddering breath. She fumbled for her cane and then slowly got to her feet. When Max leapt up to join her, Chloe waved her back.

“I got it, I got it,” she insisted. Fighting a slight ache in her waistline, Chloe straightened out her back. She regarded the two girls with a grin. Something to make them forget the pain she was in. “It’s been fun, you two, but I promised Joyce I’d head by the Two Whales for dinner.”

Then, after a pause, an idea came to her. Chloe let out a tiny gasp. “Hey. Why don’t you two lovebirds come with?”

“Er... are you sure?” Kate shuffled nervously on the bed. “I’d hate to impose.”

“Kate, come on. You gonna say no to free grub and good company?” Ever the showman, Chloe gestured down at her humble jacket and jeans. “When else are you gonna get a chance to dine with yours truly?”

Max chuckled and shook her head. “You haven’t changed a bit. Hope your eating habits have.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Caulfield. Remember all those pancake eating contests?”

“We could never beat your dad. He won ’em every time.”

Chloe laughed, forgetting even that usual bit of heartache. It was a happy memory, even if the ending was tragic. She and her dad, standing side by side at the stove, cooking with greased-up skillets and lots of butter. Her dad cracking the jokes the entire time. And Max was there, too, snapping photos with William’s camera from the sidelines.

It didn’t hurt to think about it now. No need to self-medicate like she usually did.

“Well, now that you’ve put it in my head, I gotta have pancakes for dinner.” Chloe shot Max a look of mock resentment. “You realize it’s all your fault, right?”

“I’ll try to stay out of the splash zone,” Max answered, as casual as ever. When she turned to Kate, her voice dropped to a softer tone. “If you want to come, I’ll help you on that book report later. It’ll only be a couple of hours.”

Kate took a second to think it over. Then she turned up a smile at Chloe. “Okay. I wouldn’t say no to a good meal.”

“That’s the spirit!” Chloe raised her cane at the dorm room door. “Blackwell babes, roll out!”

* * *

For all the good business that Joyce had been getting, there was hardly anyone having dinner at the Two Whales that night. This worked out in the three girls’ favor, as they spent the whole time swapping stories and jokes over plates of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Joyce kept refilling cups of coffee and bringing hot water for Kate’s little cup of tea. Even she was stopping by to joke around and smile at Chloe and her friends. Pain meds be damned, Chloe couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed herself this much.

_Yeah, you do. Her name was Rachel._

Yeah, okay, that was true. But even that happiness was fleeting. They’d been happy up until those moments when Rachel went back home and Chloe had to face another tongue-lashing from her outback Nazi stepdad. And Chloe didn’t want any ghosts hanging around this one night with two friends who were still living.

“No, please,” Kate was saying, waving her hands. “I couldn’t eat another bite, really. Thank you so much, Mrs. Madsen.”

Hearing that name still stung Chloe—old habits, she reminded herself—but Joyce just laughed. “Aww, don’t you worry, sugar. And call me Joyce. Any friend of Max is a friend of mine.”

“Okay. Thanks, Joyce.”

As her mother left to tend to another customer, Chloe glanced back and noticed the way Max leaned into her girlfriend’s shoulder. Kate didn’t resist. She was too busy wiping her mouth with a napkin. Another Hallmark card moment between those two.

Max’s words rang through her head again. _Our, um, relationship isn’t exactly official._ And later, she’d said, _It was... easier that way._ All well and good, but what did that mean? Were they going steady? Just friends with PG-rated benefits? Chloe could imagine that Kate didn’t want word to get out to her ultraconservative family. And while she remembered Max’s parents being pretty chill, she had no clue how they might react to their daughter coming out of the closet. Max’s dad was always easygoing about those things, but Vanessa Caulfield was another story. Pleasant and cheerful, sure, but she had high standards for Max, even as a kid. Would she have a meltdown if she saw Max and Kate holding hands on Instagram?

More importantly, Chloe wondered, where did that leave her?

In the hospital, she’d realized how deep her feelings for Max actually went. Not just to the level of BFFs, but more than that. Thinking of Rachel, dead and buried, tore her heart to shreds, but one stray thought of Max, grown-up and visiting every day, could put the pieces back together. It was thinking about Max, wanting to _be_ with Max, that kept her spirits up in the grueling day-by-day phyiscal therapy sessions. It was that hope of getting to know this new Max to made Chloe eat humble pie and wash out the dye in her hair. She didn’t want blue-haired, battle-scarred, fuck-the-world Chloe to be what Max saw when she got out of the hospital.

She wanted to give Max back her old Chloe. Her First Mate. Her partner in crime.

But now Max’s heart belonged to someone else. At least, that was how it looked to Chloe. She doubted that she could reach out and start holding Max’s hand without feeling intensely guilty. Even if Kate didn’t bat an eye or think anything of it.

Chloe fought back a sigh. Being moody was nothing new for her, but it was never a good sign either. And she didn’t want to break out a joint and piss off Joyce something fierce.

“Soooo, Kate.” A wolfish grin spread across Chloe’s face, as she tried to lift her spirits. “You never did tell me about those messed-up things you promised to share when I was laid up? Am I cleared for the juicy details?”

Kate fought back a hiccup of surprise. She swallowed the tea she’d been drinking and set down her cup with a clatter. Max frowned. She flashed Chloe an upset look. Not actual fury, but the kind of pissed-off look that only her best friend could manage.

“I-it’s nothing, really,” Kate said, tripping over her words. She huddled deep into her side of the booth, like a little lamb backed into a corner. “I was only kidding about that.”

“Don’t blow your fuse. I was kidding, too.” Chloe spread her hands out. “Just figured there might be some crazy sins you needed to confess.”

Max barked out a short laugh. “You don’t look like much of a priest.”

Chloe winked at her. “Nah. Got defrocked like _years_ ago. Did some terrible things to the nuns.”

Kate blushed. For a moment, Chloe wanted to take back what she’d said. Did that girl think she’d uttered some blasphemy? But then she saw the light in Kate’s eyes, and a moment later, the girl was giggling to herself.

Chloe grinned at her apparent victory. Max’s girlfriend had a sense of humor after all. Good to know some small, happy things had survived the fallout of the Dark Room tragedy.

She had to admit that she liked coming up with reasons to make Kate smile and laugh. For the brief time Chloe had been at Blackwell, she remembered the other girl as being a little uptight, but not frigid like Victoria or arrogant like Nathan. She was the kind of girl who could’ve made going to a snoozefest like church sound like fun. And she’d smiled a lot more then, too. From what Max had told her, Kate had stopped smiling a few weeks before the shooting.

Right around the time she’d gone to a Vortex Club party.

Chloe knew enough from the news to imagine the kind of living hell that the poor girl had endured. Not even her friends and classmates had stood by her. Chloe could relate, even if she was still trying to forgive Max for her absence.

But Max was here now. Chloe promised herself that she’d be there for Kate Marsh, too.

“Thanks, Chloe,” said Kate. “I needed that. I haven’t been out for a night like this in forever.”

“And ever and ever?” Chloe added sweetly.

“Amen,” Max answered. Then, after a moment to yawn and stretch, she added, “I gotta say, I did join Kate on her Meals on Wheels group a couple times. It’s nice, you know? Feels good to give back to the Bay.”

“I’ll bet it does.” Chloe smirked. “You think any of those folks might want a bag of unused pot?”

“Chloe!”

“What?” She shrugged. “Some of ’em might have chronic pain. Like _me,_ Max. Ever think of that?”

Max warned her with a glare. “That’s not funny and you know it.”

“I’m only teasing.”

“You’re always teasing,” Max replied. Her hand crept across the table and squeezed Kate’s wrist. Kate smiled at the touch. Chloe wanted to throw up, it was so cute.

“Well,” she said, “you never know. Maybe I’ll make an appearance myself.” Chloe lifted her eyes to the ceiling. “I owe the Big Guy upstairs for saving my life, too.”

Max looked ready to argue, but Kate saved the moment with a bright-eyed smile. “We’d be happy to have you, Chloe. You meet a lot of people who’ve been through some hard times. It’s amazing how much you can make their day with a homecooked meal.”

Sitting in the Two Whales Diner, Chloe knew that better than anyone. She looked over at Joyce, busy ringing up someone’s bill at the register. She looked back at Max, who wiped her face and shook her head. And then she looked at Kate, who beamed at her without the slightest hint of irony. Who didn’t even flinch at half the jokes Chloe made, even at the most sacriligeous ones she could bring up.

_Christ,_ thought Chloe, _if I’m not careful, I’m gonna fall for her, too._


	6. Memorial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a heart-to-heart with Joyce, Chloe takes a long-overdue trip to make amends with her tortured past.

**6\. Memorial**

Clouds were gathering in the late night sky, blotting out the stars. It made for an eerie trip back to Blackwell in Chloe’s truck. Even now, she couldn’t help but notice the way her poor rusty set of wheels shivered and bounced along the road. All she had were a dim line of street lights and her equally poor headlamps to guide her way. Not that she needed much light. Chloe knew every route in and out of the campus like the back of her hand. She, Rachel, and the other skater kids had often spent time “beautifying” the school. Sometimes with spray cans, sometimes with rolls of toilet paper. Chloe couldn’t stop herself from grinning at those memories, even if Max and Kate weren’t in on the joke.

She pulled to a stop in the student lot, ignoring Max’s withering glare as Chloe slid the truck into a nice diagonal spot along three different parking spaces. Whatevs, Mad Max. Not everyone could be so diligent and law-abiding.

“End of the line, everybody,” Chloe announced. With a snap of her parking brake, she grinned at her passengers. “Last stop on the Blackwell Prison Express!”

“Hardly a prison if you can come go and anytime,” Max remarked, shaking her head but still smiling.

“And you’re hardly a woman at eighteen,” Chloe replied with a bitter chuckle. “I can still see skinny little Maxine under that hoodie, ya know.”

“Ugh, always with that name...”

“Aww, but it’s such a _cute_ name.”

Kate leaned past Max’s shoulder and beamed at her girlfriend. “See? I think it’s nice, too.”

Chloe pumped her fists as Max groaned. Kate was still giggling as she got out of the truck and offered Max her hand. Quickly turning away, Chloe unlocked her door and hobbled out. She ran around the truck—well, more like jerked herself forward, one foot in front of the other—to catch up with the girls as they headed back onto campus.

They both yelped as Chloe slung her arms around their shoulders. For half a second, she worried that her weight would be too much for the petite darlings, and they’d all faceplant into the asphalt.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Kate kept giggling as Chloe regained her balance, and Max just scoffed, but as usual, there wasn’t any real bite in it.

“What’s this?” Chloe demanded. “Gonna up an’ leave me without a goodnight kiss?”

“In your dreams,” Max replied.

 _Oh, you have no idea._ The words caught in Chloe’s throat. Instead, she settled for a laugh and ruffled Max’s hair. “Aww, c’mon now. Don’t tell me your hipster butt is gonna leave me high n’ dry after I’m out of the hospital?”

“Chloe, that’s exactly why I called it an early night.” Max paused to yawn into her hand. “Hear that? That’s me about to pass out. And I’m worried you might, too.”

Chloe’s brows shot up. Damn, when did this kid grow a pair? Had it happened in Seattle, or just after seeing her best friend’s punk ass get pumped full of lead? She didn’t remember Max ever being so quick to snap back like this. Not unless they were making fun of each other. And she definitely didn’t know a Max Caulfield who was into the girls, and so open about it, too. But, hey, this was the new world, wasn’t it?

Speaking of which, Kate didn’t even hesitate to link arms with Max. She leaned into the other girl, her eyes drifting half-shut as she smiled and let out a soft, fluttering sigh. “Mm. Don’t forget, you promised to help with my homework.”

Max blushed. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

Oh, that look. Add a little hint of color to Max’s cheeks, and suddenly, the world beneath Chloe’s feet was collapsing. That white worm of doubt in the back of her head laughed and chewed away at her strength. After all, how often had Chloe failed to make Max look at her that way? Not since the gunshot had Chloe felt this much delayed agony. One minute, she was standing still, and the next, she was beginning to double over, clutching at her stomach. She offered a weak smile as she tried to turn around and limp away.

_They’re still watching me, aren’t they? Shit, this is bad, this is bad..._

But even as her stomach tightened and her breath went shallow, Chloe stopped moving when she felt Max’s arm on her shoulder.

“Hey,” she asked, “you okay?”

“J-just fine,” Chloe hissed. She tried to straighten, but could only manage grabbing for the open door of her truck for support. “Ehh, sorry. I, uh, can’t seem to find my balance right now.”

“Probably because you left your cane in the truck.” Max pointed past Chloe’s shoulder at the fucking gray cane, lodged into place right beside her vehicle’s stick shift. Chloe mentally kicked herself, being far more flexible there than her legs were in real life.

“Heh, yeah, that’s, uh, that’s probably it.” Chloe leaned half an inch closer and snagged the cane out from the truck. With it to support her, she could bear the pain in her abdomen a little more now. Though that did fuck all for the heartache she was still going through. But Max didn’t need to know that, so Chloe favored her and Kate with a tired, tender smile.

“I’ll see you two kids soon,” Chloe promised. “Gotta get better first so’s we can hang laterz.”

Kate smiled back, her face as radiant as a spring morning. “I’d like that a lot. Hope you feel better, Chloe.”

“’Preciate it, Kate.”

Meanwhile, Max stepped closer to Chloe. Despite how defensive and snotty she’d been earlier that night, she surprised the other girl when she leaned in and, ever so gently, wrapped her arms around her friend’s torso. Chloe returned the hug, now more mindful of the scars and stitches pulling around her midsection. The hug did a lot for the pain in her heart. For now, at least. Enough for the drive home.

“I’ll text you sometime tomorrow,” said Max. When she looked up, her eyes were narrow and warm. “And I’ll try to come by and visit your place later this week, okay?”

“Don’t think I won’t hold you to it,” Chloe insisted. Still, she couldn’t help but smile back. “Joyce would be thrilled to have ya back. I know I would too, Maximus.”

Max chuckled. She let go of Chloe and stepped back toward Kate. “Keep a weather eye out for me, First Mate.”

Chloe saluted. “Aye aye, Captain!”

She watched the two girls grab for each other’s hands and wander back onto campus. Chloe leaned onto her cane for a long time, even after they’d left. Then she remembered that she was still on school grounds, that she was a dropout with a record, and that David was still the chief of security. All adding up to trouble if Chloe didn’t get her ass into gear.

After slowly getting back into the driver’s seat, Chloe began the long drive back home. She stared out at the growing clouds overhead, wondering if it might rain while she was still en route.

She wondered if anything between her and Max would ever be the same again.

* * *

Early the next morning, after a long night of tossing and turning, Chloe found herself sitting alone at the dining room table. Her hands wrapped around a fresh mug of coffee. Through the rising steam, she looked out the sliding glass door at her family’s dismal backyard.

Chloe remembered it as being a brighter, happier place, where she and Max would chase around their cat Bongo and where her dad would run the barbecue during the summer. Now there was only a swing set that had been left to rust, a grave marker for that poor cat, and a withered, painted sheet of cardboard. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember when the hell she’d put out that cardboard art, or when was the last time she’d taken a ride on the swings. Somewhere in the last five years. Somewhere in that fog of misery and grief.

Chloe sighed and took another long sip of coffee.

She almost bolted upright when she heard a door upstairs swing shut. For the teensiest second, Chloe worried that David was going to come charging into the room to yell at her for waking him up. But Chloe let out the sigh she’d been holding. That wasn’t fair. David would still be out finishing his rounds with the rest of Blackwell’s hired security boys. More likely, Joyce was up and moving about. Chloe took some small comfort in that image. No matter what, her mom was never the sort to collapse on herself when things were down.

_So what does that say about me?_

Chloe grimaced. When she turned back to the yard, she realized that the pain in her head had traveled down to her stomach. Time for another round of meds.

Clutching at her cane, she wobbled onto her feet and hobbled over to the kitchen. At least David had been conscientious enough to put an extra bottle of the pills in one of the cabinets. He’d mentioned something about “Always be prepared.” Which was hysterical coming from a guy who’d stocked up the garage with canned food, guns, and ammo. This was Arcadia Bay, after all. Not Ground Zero for the storm of the century. The worst weather they’d ever gotten was a bit of early snow a few years back.

As she twisted open the pill bottle and shook out a few tablets, Chloe could hear her mother’s footsteps coming down the stairs. She quickly palmed the pills, swallowed them together, and washed them down with coffee. Of course, the coffee didn’t go down as smooth as she wanted. By the time Joyce emerged, Chloe was leaning over the sink, gagging and spitting out the nasty aftertaste as best she could.

“You okay, sugar?” Joyce was at her daughter’s side in an instant, a hand on her shoulder.

Chloe nodded and wiped away a little spittle from her lips. “Mm-hmm. Sorry ’bout that. Meds didn’t, uh, agree with me.”

“You look exhausted.” Joyce paused. “You sure you don’t want me to stay today? I can call in and have Bill and Cindy look after the—”

“No, d-don’t worry.” Chloe allowed herself one last cough and ripped off a paper towel from the nearby roll. She wiped off her hands and face before speaking again. “I didn’t mean to worry ya or anything. Just one of those mornings, y’know?”

Joyce nodded. “I sure do. Nothing a little breakfast can’t solve.”

Chloe grinned. “You read my mind.”

“Okay, then,” Joyce answered, laughing. She shooed Chloe out of the kitchen. “Go on and sit yourself down. I don’t need you hovering over my shoulder like you used to.”

A tiny, old part of Chloe’s brain immediately bristled at the chiding tone her mother took. Like she was scolding an eight-year-old instead of an eighteen-year-old. _I’m not some fucking kid,_ the old Chloe would’ve snapped. But the modern-day Chloe didn’t have enough points in Stamina for that, so she just nodded and went back to the table.

Minutes later, the air was rich with the powerful aroma of maple syrup and hot sizzling bacon. Chloe knew the gurgling in her stomach didn’t have anything to do with her injury. She kept still for a change, though her leg kept bouncing up and down under the table.

Joyce served up two plates of food, along with a carton of orange juice. Chloe had missed this. Despite the outburst she would’ve made earlier, she really did feel like a kid again. Sitting with her mom on a weekday morning, enjoying a nice meal with sunlight pouring into the house. The only thing missing to complete this picture was her dad, shooting Chloe teasing grins as he tried to steal bacon from her plate or offer her more juice.

 _Dad..._ Chloe’s bottom lip trembled. She nearly dropped her fork onto the floor, and with it, the nice slice of pancake she’d been about to eat.

Looking up from her newspaper, Joyce frowned. “Everything all right, hon?”

 _Sure, Mom, no problem,_ she wanted to say.

“I... no, not really,” she ended up saying. Chloe sighed and put her down her fork. “Sorry. I’m a little out of it today. Last night... last night kinda messed me up.”

“Really?” Joyce chuckled, but there was no spite in it. “I would’ve thought you were over the moon to see Max again. Sure brings back a lotta good memories seein’ you two.”

Chloe tried for a smile. “You’re right. It is nice to be back. Nice to have her back.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I... I don’t know.” Chloe face went hot and tight. “I don’t fucking know anymore.” _No, do not cry,_ she warned herself. _Do not cry in front of her. That shit ain’t cool._ “It’s like nothing’s the same anymore. Like I’m... I’m still broken.”

Getting the words out hurt, but in a good way. Like, okay, the worst of it was over. She’d finally admitted something had gotten fucked up. Why else would Chloe have been up, sleep deprived and reminiscing like some chick in an emo poem? But now she felt the waterworks coming and she didn’t want to break down, but she was afraid she couldn’t stop herself either. Like, how messed up was _that_?

“Oh, Chloe.” Joyce’s voice was warm and forgiving. She reached across the table and grabbed for her daughter’s hand. Chloe squeezed back and sniffled.

“You know, I do understand what it’s like.” Joyce nodded to herself. “You think, ‘I’m strong, I can just move on,’ but then you’re reminded of all the little things you had before. I went through the same thing after your father... well...” Her eyes fell to the table. “I _am_ happy with David, and I know you’re not most days, but of course he’s not gonna ever replace what your father meant to me. And I know he won’t fix that for you, sweetie.”

And there it was. A few little words to kickstart the tears. Chloe shook her head as they trickled down her face. Within two seconds, Joyce was up and moving over to her side again. Chloe leaned into her mother’s sudden embrace. She wiped at her eyes and sniffled, forgetting all her usual attempts to play it off and be a girl who took no shit from anyone.

After a long moment, Chloe let go. She looked her mother in the eyes and smiled. “Thanks.”

Joyce nodded. Then she leaned down and kissed Chloe on the forehead. “Anytime, buttercup. Now, finish your breakfast. You’ll feel better once you do.”

Chloe did as she was told. It was nice, she admitted, to have a breakfast where she and her mom weren’t trading barbs or getting off on the wrong foot. And nothing eased the pain in her gut quite like some homecooked pancakes and bacon.

“So, what’s on your agenda for today?” Joyce asked.

“Mmph.” Chloe swallowed her last mouthful and chuckled. “Honestly? Haven’t a clue.” She paused. “But... now that I think about it, I might need to take a drive. Clear my head.”

She’d always planned to make this one short trip. It galled her to think of it now, after all the crying she’d done, but there was no getting around it.

“Whatever you need, dear,” said Joyce.

* * *

For a long time, Chloe stared out the window of her truck. It was a gorgeous afternoon, with the sun casting golden light over the entire park. She had no doubt that Max would’ve been happy to run around outside, snapping tons of photos to haul back to her hipster-style dorm room. That mental image made Chloe chuckle, and it put her in a good enough mood to get her butt into motion. She opened her door, leaned onto her cane, and made her way onto the street.

At this time of day, no one was going to be haunting the local cemetery. And “haunting” was the key word there. Chloe didn’t believe in spirits or dumb shit like that, but she couldn’t deny the little chill crawling down her back when she took a tentative step into the grounds. Places like this were supposed to be creepy, weren’t they? All those rows of gravestones and memorial plaques, rising up out of the neatly manicured grass like so many thorns on a vine. All those people, _real_ people, stuffed into the ground and turned back to dust and ashes.

 _That could’ve been your dumb ass,_ the voice of doubt whispered in her ear. _One wrong turn of that bullet, and you’d be pushing up daisies too..._

Chloe shivered, and not just because of the cold breeze that buffeted her.

“Christ,” she muttered. Her fingers curled around the top of her cane. After taking a moment, she stepped forward. Putting one foot after another, she made her trek across the grassy fields. It had been a long time since she’d been here. Too quiet here. Too painful to visit.

But for five years, she’d put off this visit. Five years too long.

Chloe buttoned up her jacket by the time she reached the marker she’d been seeking out. A small, simple grave deep within the cemetery. Her breath hitched within her throat. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the cold words carved into its surface.

_WILLIAM PRICE_

_1970 – 2008_

_Beloved Husband and Father_

Pinpricks formed around the edges of her eyes. Chloe wanted to cry. Wanted to scream. Wanted to run and never look back. The cane wobbled in her grip.

“H-hey, Dad. It’s... it’s Chloe.” She didn’t recognize the tiny voice that came out of her mouth. It was too... what, exactly? Too young? Too sweet? Jesus, how bitchy had she grown in the last few years?

 _With good reason,_ that nasty voice in her head supplied. _To avoid conversations like this._

Sighing, Chloe rubbed at her eyes. “Ahh, what the hell am I doing here. I mean, c’mon...”

It’d be easy to leave, wouldn’t it? Pack up, get her ass back into her warm truck, and drive on home. Joyce would never even have to know. _Nah, just out for a drive,_ she could tell her. Would that be so wrong? But the more Chloe looked around, she realized that she was still alone. Apart from that bastard voice in her head, there was no one else with her in the entire graveyard. Well, not unless she counted the pair of squirrels chittering and chasing each other up a tree.

Man, what was it with the squirrel population in Arcadia Bay?

That thought made Chloe smile a little. She turned back to her father’s grave, steeled herself with another deep breath, and nodded. “Okay. Sorry... sorry, I never came by sooner. I’m shitty like that.” She chuckled. “Guess I spared you my terrible teens.”

This was good, she realized. She’d been mad at her dad for a long time, but she’d never really done stuff like this. Talk shit out. She’d done it with Max. With Joyce. Hell, even with David, the prick in residence. But not with the man she’d missed the most.

Tears resurfaced in her eyes as Chloe forced herself to continue. “I miss you, Dad. I miss you every day. An’ Mom does, too. Swear it on a Bible, she really does, y’know?”

Heh, swearing. That brought back another cheery memory for Chloe. She pictured herself a few years younger, cooking up pancakes in the kitchen, as her dad accidentally let out a curse word. _That’s a dollar for the swear jar!_ she’d insist. And her dad—William—would fire off a joke, too. That was always how it was. Joyce Price was the one who kept everything in line, but William never stopped keeping things fun for Chloe. Always a new adventure. Always another reason to smile, even when Bongo died or when Max couldn’t come over because she was sick.

Now Chloe was smiling for real. She hugged herself and looked back at the grave. Tried to imagine her old man sitting there, casual and open like always.

“Hey, Dad,” she said. “I’ll be back real soon. Got my partner Max back. She’ll wanna say hi, too. She’s cool like that.” A lump formed in her throat. After another quick glance around the cemetery, Chloe knelt down on the soft grass. She reached a tentative hand out to the grave and caressed it, right where it said her father’s name. It was cold to the touch, but she didn’t pull away.

“’Kay,” said Chloe. “Bye, for now.”

As she stood up, Chloe yanked her beanie over her ears. The autumn chill was picking up, and she was already an emotional wreck. She needed a few deep breaths to settle herself again.

Turning left, she wandered over to where the Web directory had told her to go.

She’d find Rachel Amber’s grave waiting for her a few rows down.

Fresh tears spilled across Chloe’s cheeks. She sniffled and wiped them away with the back of her sleeve. Gross, she knew, but she didn’t have any choice. And besides, it wasn’t anyone else was gonna be hanging around a graveyard. Decorum was good for the funeral, but this was just a visit. A long, fuck-her-ass _painful_ visit, but a casual trip all the same.

 _Should’ve brought Max with me,_ she thought. It would’ve been a good reason to reach out. Maybe even tempt Max to ditch class for once. And Max was proving to be a better person than Chloe had given her credit for over the last five years. A few sweet words and hugs were enough to melt the ice around Chloe’s heart, to break that glassy front she’d held up whenever she thought about the Caulfields moving off to Seattle. Without so much as a phone call since then.

After all, Chloe could’ve picked up the phone, too. So why hadn’t she?

 _To avoid conversations like this,_ that prickly voice reminded her. _To avoid getting hurt again._

Chloe shook her head. No, she was done with that. It hurt to face her dad’s grave, but she did it anyway. And she’d survived. She didn’t need Rachel’s eternal sunshine to keep her going either. It’d hurt to find her marker, but she’d do it anyway. Just to prove that she could.

Trudging along, almost tiptoeing across the grass, Chloe kept scanning the names of the graves she passed. No sign of Rachel yet, but plenty of names that she recognized. People with last names similar to some of the kids she knew from school. She wondered if they’d buried Rachel close to her own relatives. It hurt Chloe to realize that she didn’t have a lot of clear memories of Rachel’s parents. Kind of nice, down-to-earth folks. Her mom baked a lot, and her dad worked some desk job for long periods of time. Lots of love and support, but they were standoffish, too. Of course they’d add up to one wild child with her sights set on beautiful LA.

After a few minutes, Chloe had almost given up on her search. Her legs were aching, and her stomach hurt something fierce. Unfortunately, she’d left her pain meds in the glove compartment of her truck. She could handle a bit of nausea in lieu of relieving this agony.

But as she turned to go, she heard a low growl behind her. Followed by a whine.

Chloe froze. Didn’t move a damn muscle.

“Holy shit,” she muttered.

No, it wasn’t possible. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not after all the shit she’d been through.

But then she heard a familiar, gravely voice call out, “Hey there, Debbie Downer. Been a while, ain’t it?”

Slowly, Chloe turned around. She hung onto her cane for dear life, and looked up to meet the cold, bitter stare of Frank Bowers. The hombre was exactly as Chloe remembered him: scruffy, unwashed, and dressed in someone else’s Goodwill store donations. His loyal hound stood by his side, his muzzle stiff and pointed at Chloe, only moments away from pouncing her to rip out her throat. He was some kind of German Shepherd and pitbull mix, and he looked like he was fed on a steady diet of flesh and blood.

“Uhh, hey, Frank.” Chloe swallowed. The cane trembled in her hand. “Long time, yeah?”


	7. Reversal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Frank have one last confrontation. Chloe says goodbye to Rachel and hello to a new beginning with Max.

**7\. Reversal**

It was like being shot all over again. Chloe fumbled for words, and nearly stumbled right onto her ass. She clutched at her cane for support. At the same time, Frank’s mangy mutt let out a snarl and edged closer to her. But the hound got a nice yank back from his owner and a stern rebuke. It wasn’t lost on Chloe that the dog was called Pompidou. What, was Frank trying to be funny? Some morbid joke before he sicced his pooch on someone’s face?

She swallowed. Had to stall for time. Talk her way out. “L-look, man, I don’t... I don’t have your money _on_ me, okay? Just give me some time and I’ll—”

“Calm down, girl.” Frank sounded different. He didn’t have the usual come-fight-me voice like in all those other drug deals. “I ain’t here for that.”

Chloe blinked. “You’re not?”

“Nah.” Frank paused, his eyes dropping to the grass on which they stood. Chloe didn’t recall when she’d ever seen him this pensive. If he wasn’t here to bust her ass for the money she owed him, then why show up with his Cujo wannabe? Some things had changed in the Bay, sure. But the town’s resident drug dealer turning all sweet and neighborly didn’t seem anywhere near possible.

“Listen,” Frank finally said. His eyes flickered up at her. “You, uh, ever hang with a girl named Rachel? Rachel Amber?”

Chloe wanted to scream. Her face tightened. “How do _you_ know Rachel?”

“We mighta... kinda... dated.”

 _Oh, shit,_ Chloe thought. Then, after a heartbeat’s worth of thinking: _Oh, fuck off, Rachel!_

How many other lives did that poor girl—that bitch—keep from her? First, the Dark Room, and now this? Chloe could only take so much heartbreak in a month. She had half a mind to kick over the gravestone with Rachel’s name on it, but she knew better. And the last thing she needed was a broken foot to go along with her stomach wound. David would never let her hear the end of it.

Meanwhile, Frank was taking stock of Chloe’s turmoil. He offered a curt nod. “I’m, ah, guessing she never told ya. Can’t say I blame her. I didn’t know half the things she was doin’ with that...” His eyes slid shut. “That _freak._ ”

Now Chloe felt a little better. Okay, then. So she and Frank had _that_ much in common. They’d pinned their hopes on a girl who was more messed up than anyone else knew. Anyone except for Mark Jeffershit, Prince of Darkness, and his court jester fuckboy Nathan. Chloe tried to clamp down on the sudden rush of fury deep inside her chest. She wasn’t about to curse out Frank. Of course, she wanted to do just that, but what’d be the point? They were both fucked up enough as it was. And Frank wasn’t even trying to outbid Chloe’s claim to Rachel.

 _Did you ever really own her?_ the worm of doubt hissed into Chloe’s ear. _Come on. Be honest._

She didn’t have an answer for that. If she tried, she’d only have more tears to shed. And now was not the time for that shit.

Chloe sighed and ducked her head. “I-I’m sorry. Frank. Real sorry.”

Frank shrugged. “Don’t beat yourself up, kid. Weren’t your fault, what happened to her.” He stopped and leaned down to scratch at one of Pompidou’s ears. The dog let out a tiny whine and start panting, like nothing at all was wrong. “And, uh, hey. You don’t gotta worry about the money neither. I’m done with that.”

“Done with what?”

“The business. Pushin’ drugs. Gettin’ high as a kite on Saturday nights. That ain’t my thing anymore.” Frank fixed Chloe with a cold glare. “So, you an’ me? We’re square.”

Chloe’s eyes went wide.“Okay, but... why?”

Something in Frank seemed to build up when she said that. Christ, it was like watching David wrestle with his guilt over Nathan again. “You heard how it happened, right? How she died?” Frank paused. “The drugs. Nathan... that fuckin’ little shitstain... the kid fuckin’ made her OD on _my_ drugs!”

Pompidou barked, and Chloe stepped back. Shit, she’d been right. That dog was gonna jump her any second now.

But the attack never came. Instead, Frank scratched at his dog’s head. That little moment of contact seemed to kill whatever bile was bubbling up inside his throat. He drew a long breath before he could speak again.

“I sold him those drugs, Chloe,” he said in a breaking voice. “Might as well have killed her with my own hands.”

“Jesus, Frank.” Chloe frowned. “I-I don’t know what to say to that.”

Frank laughed. “Ain’t nothing _to_ say. That’s why I’m outta the business. Split a deal with a guy I know. Gave him all my merch, so’s he can get rich off those damn Blackwell brats. But not me.” He jabbed his thumb into his chest, and for one moment, he was the same old grungy dealer that Chloe had come to know and fear. “I’m heading outta town next chance I get. Me an’ Pompidou, we’ll find someplace better.”

Chloe nodded. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, anymore than she could believe what she said next. “Well, good luck with that, Frank. I mean it.”

Frank smiled back. “Heh. You, too, Chloe.” He gave her a halfhearted wave. “ _Hasta la vista._ ”

She watched Frank and his hound turn and leave the cemetery. Chloe was wobbling on her feet, grateful for the slim metal rod she used to walk everywhere. This day was getting too surreal. She kept expecting to wake up in her bed, with her hair still dyed blue and the world still too fucked up for her to handle.

Speaking of which, now that she was alone again, Chloe couldn’t delay the inevitable any longer. She turned and faced Rachel Amber’s grave.

_RACHEL AMBER_

_1994 – 2013_

_The World Shined Bright While She Was Here_

_Ugh,_ thought Chloe, _spare me that sunny valley bullshit._

With one hand wrapped tight on her cane’s handle, Chloe lowered herself onto her knees. Her stomach protested against the motion, but she ignored it. Pain was something she could bear. It was all the other ways of being hurt that she didn’t need right then. Like how fresh tears kept spilling down her cheeks and soaking into the collar of her sweater. That, she could do without.

Chloe tentatively stretched out her hand to brush against the rough stone around the girl’s name. She drew in a long, shuddering breath.

“You were my fucking angel, Rachel...” She wiped away the snot dripping from her nose. “And you’re a fucking bitch, too. You know that?” The acid in her tone surprised her. Chloe ducked her head and whispered, “S-sorry. You didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve _any_ of that shit.”

Christ, what was she even doing here? It was one thing to go and pay her respects to her dad. That was what a good daughter did, wasn’t it? But what had she and Rachel been? Friends? Something like that. A little more than that, Chloe had always hoped. But maybe that was Rachel’s gift—and her curse, too. She made people fall in love with her without even trying. And she never hung around to deal with the aftermath. No wonder so many Vortex prep-stars had covered their school with graffiti to drag her name through the mud.

She didn’t need to be here. Chloe could’ve left without a word and never looked back. But she’d always carry that _What If?_ deep inside her.

She thought about Max. Skinny, geeky Max Caulfield, who hadn’t really abandoned her. Max, who’d come back and waited by her side, ever loving and faithful as ever, so long as you ignored the five years of radio silence between them. Max would know how to handle this. She’d proven that she could, dealing with all of Chloe’s shit these past few days. No resentment, no lectures. Just a few honest words and an attempt to rekindle the old magic. Like they’d never been apart. And the more Chloe thought about that, the harder it was to keep from smiling through the tears.

“We all used you, didn’t we?” she finally said. “I made you fill in for Max. Frank needed a different kinda hit. And Jeffershit... well, there’s no fixing what’s wrong with his evil ass. Him or Nathan. But you deserved so much better, baby. You an’ me both.”

Chloe fell silent. She couldn’t think of anything else. Maybe there was nothing else.

After a moment, she leaned in and kissed her palm. Then she pressed her hand onto the grave, delivering that first and final kiss to Rachel’s name.

* * *

By the time Chloe had hobbled her way back to her truck, she was winded. Not to mention her stitches were giving her hell. After squeezing into the driver’s seat, she popped open the glove compartment and snagged a few pills from the bottle inside. Swallowed them dry, which tasted awful, but it sure beat the nausea factor.

It took a few minutes for the meds to do their thing. When they did, Chloe could breathe a little easier again. She looked up and smiled out at the empty road outside. Not a soul in sight, with the sun setting over the ocean, casting rays of gold everywhere. Like something out of a damn fairytale. She thought she knew a word for this. Like, some kinda pretentious artsy slang that photographers had for the right conditions of snapping a sunset. Golden Week? Cupid’s Halo? Probably something cute and stupid like that.

And speaking of cute, pretentious photographers, Chloe knew exactly who she had to text.

> **_Chloe:_ ** _max_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _maaaaaax_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _r u gonna come by mah house or what?_

To be honest, Chloe hadn’t expected much. She was enough of an emotional wreck that part of her wished Max would decline the offer. Joyce would be disappointed, but that meant she and Chloe would hang and chat for a bit. After the rollercoaster of chatting up Frank and visiting her dad’s grave, a nice chat with her mother over coffee wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

But life was never simple for Chloe. As she learned when her phone lit up with two new texts.

> **_Max:_ ** _im finishing homework rite now_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _wanna give me a lift?_

With a grin, Chloe pumped her fists. Then she texted back immediately.

> **_Chloe:_ ** _yea yea be there in a sec_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _but i aint givin ur girlfriend a ride_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _gotta be just the max n’ chloe show_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _with us, it’s always a show ^_^_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _ugghhh NO EMOJI_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _hate that preteen shit_

Once the phone was back in her pocket, Chloe started up her engine. She couldn’t afford to waste a minute. Heartbroken she still might’ve been, but she wasn’t giving up. Not on Captain Caulfield, that was for sure.

The truck roared to life. Chloe let out a whoop as she drove on.

* * *

Max was leaning on a rail near the front steps of Blackwell Academy when Chloe arrived. She noticed that her friend was still up for wearing the same outfit almost every time she saw her now: a gray hoodie, graphic T-shirt, sneakers, and jeans. Like, she knew Max’s parents weren’t super-rich, but c’mon. The girl could afford to mix it up a little. Then again, knowing Max as she did, Chloe figured she was still every bit the geek who needed to be pushed into an adventure.

“Waddup, hipster?” Chloe grinned through the open window as Max came up to the passenger side. “You ready to thrash?”

“Uh, more like nosedive?” Max rolled her eyes. “Honestly, you’re as bad as Justin and his friends.”

“Uh, where d’you think I learned it from?”

“Figures...”

Chloe’s grin only got wider. “Aww, you’re so cute when you pout.”

Max huffed as she closed the door. She knew better than to look around for a seatbelt. Chloe’s vehicle was not rated for maximum safety, an ancient choice made by both her old aesthetic and her lack of money. Chloe chuckled and kicked the old beast into drive once more.

As they cruised down the main road back to her neck of the woods, Chloe kept sneaking peeks over at Max, who was checking something on her phone. She’d smile at something every now and then. At what, Chloe didn’t know. If she had to guess, something funny that that uber-geek Warren had shared online. Or maybe just a series of heart emojis that her girlfriend Kate was sending her. That was something geek girlfriends did, right?

“So, I hope I’m not taking you away from a crucial project, Miss Art School Hero,” Chloe quipped. One hand propped up her cheek while the other kept a loose grip on the wheel.

“If it were, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Sooo, I’m a distraction. Neat.”

“You’re better than that, Chloe. You’re a barrel of fun all by yourself.”

“Oh, really?” Chloe chuckled. “So, you’re saying I’m better than a night of Netflix?” She waggled her eyebrows at Max. “Wow. You sure do know how to smooth-talk the ladies.”

Max laughed, and it was like music to her ears. “No way. I bow to _your_ experience on that, First Mate.”

A slight sliver crept its way down Chloe’s leg. She tried to play it off, but she couldn’t deny it. The way Max said _First Mate_ made her tingle in all the right places. And then she wondered what she could say—or do—to get Max just as tingly.

Her eyes wandered over to the forest they were passing. Those woods weren’t much of a mystery to Chloe. She and Max had romped and played pirates there so many times. And later, she, Rachel, and a bunch of other thrashers had scouted out the grounds for places to smoke. Like a freestyle jam session in the wilderness. But now that she was here again, Chloe couldn’t help but admire the silent beauty of those trees. She didn’t immediately see spots for hiding or places to hang out like before. Now she was just looking for somewhere quiet to be.

Somewhere to be with Max, she decided.

 _Fuck,_ she thought. _Either the drugs are working too good, or I’m gettin’ sentimental fast._

“So, what’s on the agenda tonight?” asked Max. She put away her phone and turned to face Chloe directly.

“Hmm. Depends.”

“On what?”

Chloe grinned. “On whether or not you want to tackle our unfinished game of Mario Kart?”

Max scoffed, but there was no menace in it. “You mean the game where I was winning? Ooh, yeah. Let’s definitely get to that.”

“Loser has to pay for the pizza we order!”

“Yeah, but when _you_ lose, you can’t make Joyce pay for you.”

“Ouch. A low blow from Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”

“Only because it’s true.”

Chloe laughed and put both her hands on the steering wheel. She sped up, now more eager than ever to get home. All the misery and dread from the cemetery was receding into the distance. Another speck in her rear view mirror. A whole lifetime had passed between then and now. And there was no pain left now. Only the thrill of the night ahead.

“Welcome back, Max,” said Chloe. “It’s been shit without you.”


	8. Retrospect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max visits Chloe's house and gets an overdue birthday present. Chloe gets nostalgic and wonders where things might go from here.

**8\. Retrospect**

By the time they got back to 44 Cedar Lane, where the house stood out with its half-finished paint job, Chloe did get the answer to her question. Max was more than happy to talk her ear off about the “golden hour” style in photography for the length of the drive. In fact, as soon as they reached Chloe’s house, it was no longer an ideal time for taking sunset photos. The whole sky had turned to a soft velvet blue. Which suited Chloe just fine. If she had to hear one more word about “aperture settings” or whatever, she was gonna blow her brains out.

Leading Max upstairs, Chloe had to lean on the bannister for support. She was getting better, but between the run-in with Frank and the emotional mess she was in, her legs were ready to give out. If Max noticed this, she didn’t say a word.

 _Betcha she doesn’t even notice,_ that tiny voice of doubt whispered back.

 _Betcha you’re an asshole,_ Chloe shot back, sounded as tired as she felt.

She unlocked her door and pushed it open, revealing the familiar scene of her trashed-up, burnt-out, ready-to-thrash comfort zone. “Well, here we are. It’s not the Ritz-Carlton, but it’ll pass for two broke girls, right?”

Max paused in the doorway. Her eyes scanned over every corner, no doubt landing on the grimy piles of clothes across the floor.

“It’s... nice,” she said. “A little darker than I remember, but...”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Come on, spit it out, Maximal.”

“Well, it suits you. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Thanks for the vote of fuckin’ confidence.” Chloe dropped her cane on the floor beside her bed. As she swung her legs onto the mattress, her hand slid over to the nightstand. One quick pop of the top drawer revealed her long-awaited prize: a plastic bag full of grass. She hoisted the bag into view and gave it a teasing shake. “Mind if I, ah, medicate?”

Max crossed her arms. “Should I be worried about us getting busted?”

Chloe chuckled. “Heh. Nah, me an’ stepdad got an understanding now. I don’t blaze it _every_ day, and _he_ doesn’t give me shit over something that helps with the pain.” As she spoke, her fingers automatically began to roll up a fresh blunt. She snatched her lighter from her pocket and lit the tip. Watched the paper crumple and blacken under its heat. Imagined the glorious taste in her mouth. “Buuuut, since you’re up and about, might as well open a window.”

She watched her friend—her best friend, she had to be honest—cross the room and reach past Chloe’s cluttered desk for the window. Fresh air poured into the stuffy bedroom, and Chloe dropped her head onto a lumpy pillow. She pinched her joint between thumb and forefinger, and took a long drag.

Ohh, _fuck_ yes. There it was. That beautiful buzz she’d been missing all day. Forget the stomach pains. Forget Rachel and Dad and Frank. Chloe let out an exhale that seemed to last forever.

For one moment, she almost forgot Max was still there. Chloe tilted her head and gave the skinny, shorter girl a sly wink. She patted a spot on the bed beside her. Max came over and plopped down, crossing her legs like a dainty little thing. Chloe chuckled at the thought. She would’ve asked Max to put on some music, too, but today was different. She didn’t need a soundtrack to drown out the usual harsh vibes. Just seeing her old friend, here and alive by her side, was more than enough.

 _No music,_ thought Chloe. _Just talk. Reconnect. She’s your bestie, ain’t she?_

Chloe shifted herself onto one elbow and glanced up. She let the joint hover near a strategically placed ashtray by her pillow. “Hey, uh, sorry if this is outta the blue, but what’s Kate up to these days?”

Max opened her mouth, ready to answer. But she stopped herself. Her eyes flashed with some feeling that Chloe couldn’t read. Guilt? Fear? Geez, had things already gone south with Kate Marsh? What kind of venial sin did someone have to commit to do that?

“Mm. Keeping it close to the chest?” Chloe shrugged and lifted her blunt for another toke. “Well, if you wanna play it like that, Maxi-Pad—”

“Chloe, I’m not...” Max sighed. She lifted trembling hands to her temples, rubbing them like she trying to keep all her thoughts in. “It’s not that. I’m just... I’m worried, that’s all.”

Chloe frowned. “Uh, okay? Wanna tell Dr. Price all about it?”

Before she allowed herself another hit of that sweet herb, Chloe scooted over. She waited for Max to readjust her spot on the bed, folding her legs up underneath herself like a bird. Like some kinda flighty bluebird in a hoodie and graphic tee. Chloe had to fight to keep herself from giggling at such a stupid mental image. The mood in the room wasn’t right for it.

Meanwhile, Max blew out a long breath and looked at her hands. “It’s been one long fucking day, Chloe. See, Kate didn’t go to class today. She was down at the police station.” When she dropped her head, her voice cracked a little. “She’s presenting her testimony today. Testifying _against_ Mark Jefferson. And... Nathan Prescott. What she can remember from that...” Max broke off, her voice gone ragged as she struggled to take in a few sharp breaths. “That awful night...”

“Jesus, Max.” Chloe dropped her joint into the ashtray. Watched red embers fizzle out on ancient ceramic. “I’m real sorry about that.”

But Max shook her head, sounding just as contrite. “No. No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Hell, Chloe, you did the smart thing. You just sent it in writing. No one’s making you relive what you went through.” She clutched at her head again. “I’m just... I’m worried, okay? I’m worried what this is gonna do to Kate. She’s so sweet and she doesn’t deserve this. She doesn’t deserve _any_ of this—”

“Max, stop.” Before the other girl could react, Chloe took her by the hand and squeezed it tight. She fought past the sweet buzz in her head. Had to think clearly for this. Speak clearly, too. “Hey. Hey, look at me. Kate is going to be fine. She’s tough like you an’ me.” Still, Chloe couldn’t resist a cocky smile. “I mean, she’d have to be, given how she dresses and talks ’bout the Good Book—”

“Shut up.” Max giggled. She ever so slowly lowered herself onto the bed next to Chloe. Her head hit the pillow next to Chloe’s, and she sighed again. “And thanks. I needed to hear that.”

Chloe winked. “Just doin’ my job, Cap’n.”

She could’ve laid there next to Max for ages. Even while high, Chloe couldn’t help but think back to the many sleepovers they’d had as preteens. Waking up next to Max under a pile of blankets was nothing new to her, though she hadn’t done it for at least five years. But these days, when Chloe had a “sleepover,” she and whichever guy or girl she’d met were usually naked and sweaty by the end of it. That thought would’ve made Chloe grin, but she suddenly realized that she wasn’t thirteen anymore.

And neither was Max for that matter. Her eyes kept wandering over the Caulfield girl’s slender curves, over the shape of her face and the gentle light in her eyes. And all she could think about then was how much, how badly, she wanted to kiss her.

Chloe bolted out of bed. She dropped her joint into the ashtray and staggered to her feet. Max looked up at her in surprise.

“Uh, but you know what? I just remembered I got the perfect thing for chasing away the blues.” Chloe didn’t need the cane to cross her own bedroom, thank God. She was still riding a high as she crouched down at a pile of junk near her TV stand.

Max’s voice reached her from the hazy distance. “Chloe, I am _not_ going to try pot.”

“Bzzt! Wrong answer, genius.” She paused before adding, “Though, you never know until ya try...”

“Chloe.”

“All right, all right. Hold up one sec.” After a minute of digging, she found her prize. Chloe blew off a layer of dust and wiped at the rest of the grime with her shirt. “Christ, thank you, Joyce. I’d have never found this under so much shit...” When she stood, she turned around and flashed an impish smile at her friend. “I, uh, know it was your birthday last month. Sorry I didn’t have time to wrap it or anything.”

Max blinked when she saw the device in Chloe’s hands. “Wait, is that—?”

“Dad’s old camera. Hasn’t been touched since, well, you know.” Chloe paused, turning her head to cough out some of the dust from this edge of the room. Made a mental note to clean up as soon as she was feeling better. “I mean, I was never gonna use it myself. But I know you’ll be a real retro rockstar with this.”

Max’s eyes went soft. “Chloe...” She stood and moved to join Chloe. Taking the camera like some holy relic, she turned it over in her hands, inspecting it from every angle. “Oh, my God, this is so cool. Thank you!”

Chloe was ready to give her friend a playful swat on the shoulder. What she didn’t expect was a sudden hug from the front. She absorbed the hit and grinned, wrapping her arms around tiny Max. Couldn’t resist a cheesy grin either. For the first time in many, many weeks, she could receive a hug from someone without feeling like her gut was gonna tear itself in half.

After a minute, they let go of each other. Chloe chuckled and wiped at her cheeks, praying she hadn’t actually started crying like some dweeb. “I’d, uh, say let’s skip past the mushy shit and get a dance party goin’, but, uh, these legs aren’t so good for it.” She gave her thigh a playful tap. “So how about, instead, you start taking some photos, hippie? Break ’er in real good.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I will. But first things first...” When she lowered the camera from her face, Max was sporting a terrible grin. “We still have to decide the fate of the universe with that unfinished Mario Kart race.”

Chloe threw back her head and laughed. “Hella yes! Now you’re talking my language, girl! Get ready to eat dust!”

* * *

Naturally, two hours later and several rematches later, Max Caulfield proved the undisputed victor. Chloe made a show of cursing and throwing her hands up. After all, how the heck could Max’s Shy Guy racer beat her Waluigi stunt jumps? But deep down, she was just pleased to have her bestie back where she belonged. They were ten years old again, bouncing up and down on the couch as the TV loaded up another game from the dusty console. And once again, Chloe made a mental note to get around to cleaning up her shit. There was far more dust and grime to be healthy for her.

 _Takes a bullet to the gut to become a health nut,_ Chloe thought with a wry laugh. _Typical._

She didn’t have long to enjoy the moment. As they finished up another race, and Max did her geeky little victory dance, the front door opened. Both girls turned to see Joyce coming into the house, her arms full of two overfilled grocery bags. Chloe’s heart sank and she moved to get up. Of course, Max was already racing over to grab one of the bags from the older woman.

Joyce laughed when she saw Max. “Oh, thank you, darling!” After dropping the other bag on the counter inside the kitchen, she wiped the sweat from her brow. “I’ve gotta say, it sure is good seein’ you back here. Feels like old times.”

“C’mon, Mom.” Chloe made her way into the kitchen doorway and leaned against the frame. A little easier now that she wasn’t wracked with pain like usual. “We’re trying to get the nostalgia outta our systems already.”

“Mmph. Then I guess you’re not feelin’ nostalgic enough for my ham casserole tonight?”

That set Chloe back. Her mouth dropped open, and her mind swirled with possibilities. Oh, many moms up and down the Bay could produce fine homecooked meals, but no one had Joyce’s touch. Chloe had yet to find anyone who could create a casserole as mouthwatering as the kind her mother baked. Her stomach lurched at the prospect of savory chunks of ham mingling with beautifully scalloped potatoes, all mixed together in a golden, gooey mass of cheese that would leave anyone deliriously full for hours.

Chloe tried to hide her grin by coughing into her hand. “I-I didn’t say that...” She glanced over at her friend. “Uh, Max, how ’bout you?”

Max was all dorky smiles. As usual. “Sounds great, Joyce. Need any help?”

“No, but thank you, dear. You’re the guest of honor tonight.” Joyce began to sort through the ingredients from the nearest grocery bag. As she did, she looked over her shoulder and flashed Chloe a stern look. “ _You,_ however, look well enough to help me with the vegetables.”

Her mother’s no-nonsense tone was clear, but Chloe saw the glint of humor in her eyes. In reply, she offered a mock salute and the worst impression she could make. “Oui, oui! And zat is ’ow I end up peeling ze potato on kitchen duty, no?”

“Chloe...” Max was doubled over from laughing so hard. “Please, no! Not the French accent! Anything but that!”

Try as she might, Chloe couldn’t keep from grinning back. She joined her mother in kitchen, just like old times. Hearing Max still laughing in the other room was another thing she’d missed, too.

* * *

Everything was quiet and still that night. Chloe couldn’t stay asleep. Something kept waking her up. She checked her stomach periodically, but it wasn’t the usual pain flaring up. Or, at least, it wasn’t the physical kind of pain.

Her eyes wandered about the dark of her bedroom. She and Max were finally enjoying their first sleepover in years. Both girls had loaded up on second helpings of casserole and soda, leaving them exhausted. They were ready to call it an early night, even while they were only half an hour into watching _Blade Runner._ Chloe figured that she’d be having Harrison Ford dreams all night with this deadly combo, but she was tossing and turning in lieu of sleep. Now she sat up, her arms resting on her knees.

Max looked so precious when she slept. Always had, really. And she’d gotten in a few things to top off the already amazing day together. Chloe cast a smile at her desk. Sitting next to her dad’s camera was a pile of photos that Max had taken that evening. Candid pics of Joyce and Chloe. Landscape shots from the upstairs window. And, of course, tons of selfies that Chloe just had to photobomb, because, honestly, why bother if you couldn’t? It was worth it to see the grin on Max’s face every time. And their faces meshed so well in each photo. Like they belonged together.

Chloe’s gaze drifted back toward Max. “Hey. You awake?”

No response. Not even a stir.

“I’m sorry I got mad at you. It’s not...” Chloe paused. Tried to find the words again. “It wasn’t your fault. Y’know, being gone and all.” She sniffled, and when she spoke again, her voice started to crack. “I’m just so glad you’re here now.”

Turning away, Chloe let the silence settle back into the room. Nothing to hear but Max snoring gently and the rustling of tree leaves outside her window.

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but she could imagine that they weren’t alone in the room. If Chloe let her addled brain unspool a bit, she could almost picture Rachel sitting across the room, perched on a pile of junk like she’d often done. The girl had been as much of a snoop as Max, but ten times more playful about it. Chloe’s breath caught in her throat. She pictured the blonde girl, dappled by moonlight through the open window, twisting around that blue feather earring in her finger whenever she got nervous. Rachel Amber, in trademark red plaid shirt and blue jeans, flashing that mysterious come-hither smile.

“Tell me you’re not real,” Chloe begged. She swallowed back a sob, even as tears crept into the corners of her eyes. “T-tell me I’m imagining this...”

Rachel said nothing. She just smiled.

“I like her, okay?” Now the sob was spilling out. “What’s wrong with that?”

All she got back was silence. Then Rachel shook her head, still smiling. She rose, and Chloe’s heart leapt inside her chest. She nearly jumped out of bed herself.

But instead of going to her, Rachel’s apparition moved toward the door. She blew a kiss at Chloe—or maybe at Max—before letting herself out. Chloe blinked several times. After a moment, her heartbeat slowed and she started to breathe again.

She was alone again. As if Rachel had never really been there. Maybe it really had been a hallucination. Some half-baked dream born of weed, casseroles, and _Blade Runner_ vibes.

“Whatever.” Chloe let the apparition do as it pleased. She lowered herself back beside Max, a little closer than before. After a moment, she slid her arm around Max’s waist, moving gently so as not to wake her, and snuggled her from behind. “G’night...”

Her hand was warm around Max’s hip. That heat seemed to travel up the length of her arm and straight into Chloe’s chest, like some long-forgotten artery. When the heat reached her neck and her stomach, Chloe felt her eyelids grow heavy. Better than any hit of Mary Jane she’d had that day, and about as quick to take effect. She dropped her head against the pillow and slept better than she had in years.


	9. Blossom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe takes a step forward in life, and in love.

**9\. Blossom**

When Chloe woke up the next morning, she was alone.

Panic set in, but only until she checked her phone and saw a series of frantically typed texts from Max, all dated roughly half an hour earlier.

> **_Max:_ ** _sorry to bail on you, Chloe_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _Kate’s back at school_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _I had to go and see her_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _ttyl?_

Wiping a hand across her eyes, Chloe mumbled something about damn cute brunettes. She summoned the will to organize thoughts and drum out a reply.

> **_Chloe:_ ** _never a dull moment amirite?_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _tell Kate she’s strong and don’t need no man_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _cuz she’s got you, amazing spider-max_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _..._
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _o yea and offer her breakfast at the Two Whales_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _Mom’s treat, for realz this time_

A sigh escaped her lips. Chloe slumped back onto her bed, curling into a fetal position. Which, on reflection, was so fucking dumb because ow goddamn _ow_ did her stitches hurt. She flailed onto her other side and managed to snag the nearest bottle of pills before the agony overhelmed her completely.

Visions of familiar faces arced in the air above her head. Dad. Rachel. Max. Hell, even Frank and his mangy mutt. So many people who’d left. Wandered off into the blue, never to be seen again. But Max had come back. Chloe _knew_ she was back. She believed in Max.

But that didn’t explain why the hell she still felt so miserable when Max was gone.

 _You know why,_ the itty bitty worm hissed in her brain. _You got it baaad, girl._

She did. She really did. Harder than she had it for Rachel, come to think of it. At least when she and Rachel were apart for short stretches of time, it was like waiting for the sun to come up again. It would, without fail. Except when it didn’t. Except when the Devil himself cast a heavy shadow over everything and poor souls like Chloe wanted to wither away and die without that sweet, forgiving light.

 _So that’s it?_ The doubt in her head was relentless this morning. _You’re just giving up? Holing up until Max makes another appearance?_

 _What the fuck else can I do?_ Chloe grabbed a pillow and pressed it into her face. She growled out a series of curses into the soft fabric and then took a long inhale. Kept breathing in and out, until she couldn’t feel the pain across her abdomen anymore.

Chloe then recognized the loose strands of dark hair on the pillow. When she did, she groaned and let the stupid thing fall off the side of her bed.

 _So what’s it gonna be?_ the little pest snickered. _Cry, or fly?_

Sounded like something Rachel would’ve said down at the skate park. Or whatever place in the Bay they deemed close enough to a skate park. The sun would’ve silhouetted Rachel’s grinning face as she offered Chloe a hand and said, _C’mon, Chloe, you gonna sit here and cry, or you gonna man up and fly?_ Then they’d be whooping it up and launching sick flips off the next rim like nobody’s business, all cares gone and buried.

Rachel was gone and buried. But Chloe wasn’t. Not by a long shot.

She hauled her sorry ass out of bed.

* * *

An hour later, Chloe sat in the back of some edge-of-town café. She stared down her laptop, tabbing through webpages faster than she could drink her coffee. The waitress who served her refills was cute. Not cute and fluffy like Max or Kate, but she had that teasing smile that set Chloe’s heart a-flutter. As it was, she couldn’t afford to be distracted. She’d been staring too long into the last webpage on her browser, contemplating the big step she was about to take. If this were some blockbuster movie, she’d have expected the music to swell as her finger hovered on the mouse.

Chloe let out her breath.

She clicked the button.

On her screen, the page changed. Then she read: _Thank you! Your application to Bay City College has been received. Please allow for one to two weeks for processing..._

“Holy shit,” Chloe muttered. She took another sip of coffee, even though she hadn’t added all that nice cream and sweetener yet. “Okay, Price. We’re doing this. Time to be a big girl now...”

For once, the voice of doubt offered no comment. A sign of things to come, she hoped.

She was still basking in the tiny act of victory when she heard the door to the café open. Chloe lifted her eyes, and for half a second, she thought she was seeing things. But no, apparently, the universe had decided that, yes, Virginia, there was a Santa Claus. Because the next thing she knew, she was making eye contact with Max Caulfield _and_ Kate Marsh.

After a second to get her shit back together, Chloe shut down her laptop. She leaned back in her side of the booth and flashed the two girls a quick smile as they approached. “Well, well. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!”

Max giggled. “I see your Pacino’s as good as ever. Got room for two more?”

“Hey, mi table es su table. But what’re some nice girls like you doin’ out here?”

As they sat down, Max reached out and squeezed Kate’s hand. Kate squeezed back, avoiding eye contact with Chloe as she did. Now that they were up close, Chloe could see that the other girl wasn’t looking too good. Bags under the eyes, a few loose strands in her otherwise perfect bun, and even—gasp—a bit of lint on the front of her cardigan. Clearly, the girl was a mess, but the smile she flashed Max showed she wasn’t totally out of her head.

“Sorry to drop by unannounced,” Max said. She paused to give the waitress an order for fresh coffee and tea for Kate before turning back to Chloe. “So, things are kinda crazy in town right now. I tried to bring Kate over to the Two Whales like you suggested, but it’s a zoo over there.”

Chloe frowned. “Meaning... what, exactly? Paparazzi hanging out on every rooftop?”

“Something like that.”

“Oh.” Then Chloe kicked herself. “Ohh, shit. Right.” She flashed a tight smile. “Sorry to hear that, Kate. Seriously uncool. You order whatever you want. It’ll be my treat, for realsies.”

Kate shook her head. “Thanks, Chloe. I-I’m fine.”

“Well, if you ever change your mind...”

Kate didn’t reply. She pretended to read the breakfast menu. Chloe knew a faker when she saw one. She couldn’t blame her, though. Hadn’t this goddamn town taken their pound of flesh already? First, Jeffershit and the prepstars at Blackwell turned her life into a living nightmare, and now she was the poster girl for every victim of the Dark Room. It made Chloe’s skin crawl, especially when she considered that Rachel was more or less the martyr for that same group. The media’s tragic hero, struck down before her time.

Seriously, fuck the press. Chloe vowed that she’d flip off any reporter who came within so much as a mile of her.

“I swear to Dog, we didn’t plan on running into you,” Max was saying. She fixed Chloe with an inquisitive smile. “Which begs the question. What are _you_ doing here?”

“I, uh, needed a change of scenery.” Lifting a hand, Chloe knocked on the window beside her booth. Her knuckles beat out a staccato over the lonely highway road winding into the hills. “I’m still gonna make it outta this town someday. Figured I might come here an’ get some inspiration. Know what I mean?”

“Sure.” Max cast a quick smile as the waitress returned with their drink orders. When they were alone again, she took a sip of her coffee and hummed. “So, I, uh, guess you’re not going back to Blackwell anytime soon?”

Chloe smiled at her attempt to be subtle. “Not in this century, no. But nice try, Max.”

“Just a thought, Chlo...”

A pause hit the conversation, long enough for Chloe to mentally scramble and kick herself. Multiple times in a row. After enough guilt-tripping, she growled and sat up. Thanked God that that little petty act didn’t give her massive pain across the midsection.

“Okay, Sam Spade, if you must know...” Chloe snapped the laptop back open. Sure enough, the browser was exactly where she’d left it. She flipped the computer around and pointed. “Take a gander. _That’s_ what I’ve been planning.”

Max’s eyes went wide. She nearly spat out the coffee she’d been sipping. Instead, she swallowed and shot Chloe a breathless grin. “Chloe! I... when did you...?”

“Been thinking ’bout it for a while. Your truly is capable of _some_ rational choices, y’know.”

“Chloe... I’m so proud of you!”

“Oh, geez. Max, if you’re gonna cry, do it into a napkin.”

To their surprise, Kate entered the conversation with a well-timed handkerchief, dropped right into Max’s lap. She flashed her girlfriend a teasing smile, and Chloe burst out laughing. She also slammed a palm against the table, making all the silverware clatter and half the café’s patrons glare in their direction.

“Shit, sorry, sorry!” Chloe ducked her head and tugged her beanie lower over her eyes. “See what happens when I get excited?”

“Down, girl,” Max managed to say in between her giggles. She dabbed at her face with the handkerchief before passing it back to Kate. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Now it was Kate’s turn to smile at Chloe. For a moment, all the pain and sorrow was erased from her face. “That’s wonderful news, Chloe. I hope you get in.”

“Me, too, angel. Me, too.”

“You’ll have to tell me how it goes once you’re there.”

Chloe’s brows lifted. “Oh? Are you thinking of joining me?”

“Well...” Kate’s eyes dropped to her steaming cup of tea. She pulled the bag and added a spoonful of sugar, stirring it slowly. “I’m not sure yet. I mean, Blackwell’s nice, but...”

Chloe raised her hands. “Hey, say no more. That place is an unquestionable shit pit.”

“It’s not that it’s a bad school, it’s just...” Kate dropped her spoon onto the table, but didn’t pick up her tea. Instead, she took a long breath. “I don’t know. My memories of the place aren’t too friendly anymore.”

Without a word, Max scooted closer to Kate, snaking one arm around her waist for a prolonged side hug. The other girl melted into Max, and Chloe let out a tiny sound of approval. Damn it, she was getting soft. And she couldn’t decide who was more jealous of.

 _Isn’t it obvious?_ Oh, good, that nagging voice was back. _Kate’s got what you’ll never have._

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Not the best time to be having these thoughts. She’d already made her peace with Dad, Rachel, and Frank. Now she had to navigate this river of shit without a paddle, too. But, day by day, she was getting better. Every morning, it hurt a little less to get out of bed. Still didn’t mean everything was sunshine and roses for her.

“Tell you what,” Chloe added, “anytime you get the blues, Katie Kat, you gimme a call. I’ll be there to brighten up your day at that crummy-ass campus. Provided Max isn’t available, that is.”

Kate’s face lit up. “I’d like that. Thanks for being cool, Chloe.”

“Heh. It’s the only way I know how to be, gurl.”

* * *

They arrived an hour later at the familiar forest path, adjacent to the shoreline. Arcadia Bay didn’t have much of a beach, even at the height of summer, but the water was still gorgeous. Chloe parked her truck near the edge of the woods, halfway between sun-bleached sands and the shadowy edge of the forest. The sun rose high and clear in the air. Its light was strong enough to make Max and Kate look maybe five years younger as they hopped out the truck.

Chloe kept still for a second, just to watch them. She remembered that first joint visit in the hospital. Two angelic girls caught in fading sunlight, looking like they belonged together.

 _No room for you,_ the doubting voice offered. _Sucks to be the consolation prize, doesn’t it?_

For once, Chloe didn’t feel like giving that voice any satisfaction. She was still having a much better day than she’d expected.

“Hey, cuties, up and at ’em!” With a flick of her hand, Chloe motioned the other girls toward the forest path. “View’s waaaay cooler up here.”

“We’ll be right there!” Max called back. In a heartbeat, she had her camera out—William Price’s old camera—and in her other hand, she was already ripping open a fresh package of film. Kate stood right beside her, faithfully helping her slide the film into place.

Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed. “Ugh, you art school kids are all the same. Whatever! Go on, get ‘inspired.’ I’ll meetcha at the top.”

They didn’t seem to hear her, though she thought she saw Kate nod in reply. Max was already nose-deep into her new retro cam, lining up one shot after another. She was lost in her own world already. Knowing that made Chloe smile. At least five years’ absence hadn’t killed the shutterbug inside her best friend’s spirit. She turned away, just in case the girls decided to look over and catch her being sentimental.

Hiking uphill wasn’t so bad. Chloe had decided to leave the cane in her truck this one time. She promised herself to go slow. As it was, she had plenty of time to stop and actually enjoy the scenery. It was kinda cool being up here during the day. Lots of blue sky peeking through pine needles and bird’s nests, leaving equally cool shadows on the dirt trail heading up the cliff. She heard squirrels chittering and rustling through the branches, and if she waited, Chloe could hear seagulls, too. Distant, but still there. She tried to remember the last time she’d been here just for fun. Probably once or twice since Rachel’s disappearance, but not for fun. For an escape. For a smoke break, when she didn’t feel like hitting the junkyard.

To be honest, Chloe had briefly considered spooking Max and Kate with a tour of the junkyard. “American Rust,” as she called it, was exactly the kind of place she’d want for her evil lair. And on the wrong side of the tracks, no less. But bringing Kate there seemed too heavy. Max would’ve liked it, sure, but this wasn’t the Max n’ Chloe Show anymore. Not with Special Guest Kate Marsh, everyone’s little sister.

At the top of the trail, she stopped. Chloe’s eyes swept the cliff, the lighthouse, and the lone bench that sat between the two. Some evenings, when she’d come up here to look at the Bay with Rachel or some others from their posse, she’d liked to imagine that the lighthouse was a giant middle finger pointed right at the town. She’d almost forgotten how much she and Max used to love coming here to play as kids. And here they were again, five years later and plus one friend.

When Max and Kate reappeared, they found Chloe digging through the lockpicks she kept in her pocket. She stopped her work on the lighthouse door when she heard them approaching. With a sheepish grin, she turned around.

“Hey,” she said, “I never promised to be perfect.”

“Who’s judging you?” Max cracked a smile. “I’ve locked myself out of my own dorm a couple times. You’re the first person I’m calling if it happens again.”

“Don’t you mean _when?_ ” Kate added. A playful grin spread across her face.

Max snorted and batted at her girlfriend with a feeble hand. Chloe shook her head and went back to digging through the pin tumblers inside the door lock. Tried to recall the little tricks Frank had shown her way back when. A little pressure here, a little twist there, and— _click!_ —bingo.

With a grunt, she heaved the door open. The door let out a hideous groan that echoed across the clifftop. It broke the eerie calm of the woods with its mechanical growl, but whatever. Sounded as metal as hell as far as she cared.

Chloe grinned and gestured at the circular staircase inside. “Ladies first!”

“Um, I’d rather not,” said Kate. She took a step back and smiled quickly. “But you can go, Max! I’ll just, uh, wait here on the bench.”

Max frowned. “You sure?”

“Yeah! I’ll be fine.”

With a shrug, Max turned to Chloe. “Okay. Ready when you are.” She paused. “Er, you’re sure you don’t need your cane for this?”

“Nah, girl, I’m indestructible.” Chloe tapped at her stomach. In truth, it hurt like _hell_ to do that, but she didn’t let it show through her grin. “C’mon. Race you to the top?”

“After you, slowpoke.”

* * *

Up top was gorgeous, if not a little bit scary. By the end of the staircase, Chloe _was_ regretting not taking the cane. Still, Max was a good enough friend to let her lean in when she needed it. And oh boy, did she need her. Everytime the steps groaned under her boots, Chloe was sure she’d hear them snap and then she’d plummet. Undaunted, she and Max braved the climb. They stood side by side, holding hands as they stared out at the sun-tinged waters. Everything sparkled in the midday light, majestic beyond words.

So, naturally, Max had to get a picture. Chloe stuck her tongue at her, but held back as Max snapped a few photos.

Chloe’s heart thundered inside her chest. What the heck was she going to do now? She hadn’t really thought Max would take her up on this. She figured the girls would chicken out, but at least be impressed with her skill as a master of unlocking. Now she was alone with Max, with Kate several dozen feet below them, with a breathtaking view ahead of them. The air was just ripe with possibilities. Dangerous possibilities, even if they were fun to think about.

“Say cheese!” Before Chloe could respond, Max swung around and flashed her camera’s strobe. A glare washed out the scenery from Chloe’s eyes.

She scowled back. “Really? All that sweet Polaroid action and you waste your film on _me_?”

“It’s not a waste,” Max said, lowering her camera.

Chloe’s heart damn near stopped. Something had changed in Max’s face. Her eyes had gone soft now. Soft and warm. She looked happier. Or about as happy as she’d been the night before, between their Mario Kart finale and dinner with Joyce. It made Chloe fall for her all over again.

Without a word, Max handed the Polaroid to Chloe. The picture was Chloe’s face, squinting against the sunlight and the glare, but still holding a smile. And a tiny one at that.

“It’s just me,” Chloe tried to say, but Max cut her off with a look.

“You’re looking good today,” Max insisted. She took a step closer. “And you’ve been getting better since the hospital. What’s wrong with marking your progress?”

Chloe sighed and shook her head. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve a _lot,_ Chloe.” Max closed the distance and leaned into her friend’s shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re still here. I’m glad we’re back together. It feels so... nice.”

On cue, a sob was forming inside Chloe’s throat. This was worse than any nightmare she’d had yet. She wanted to run away, scream, tear her hair out, shove Max, do _something._ But she stood still and said nothing. Let the moment play itself out, one agonizing second at a time. Christ, when _had_ she gotten so pathetic? That bullet to the gut had taken away all her courage. She never used to second-guess herself like this.

A thought struck her right away. Last-minute detour. Looking down, Chloe fought back a quaver in her voice. “Hey. Lemme try something, okay?”

“What’s up?”

“Your camera. I just wanna see it for a second.”

“Um, sure. Careful now.”

Chloe accepted the camera with all the respect she’d show a holy relic. Twisting it over in her hands, without a damn clue how to adjust the settings, she tilted it up and snapped a picture of Max before she could even object. The camera clicked, whirred, and spat out a white square that began to rapidly transform into a pristine new photo. By no means was it a _good_ picture, but it was authentic. A slightly blurry portrait of Max Caulfield, with deep blue skies behind her head.

“Oh, for me?” Max blushed when she accepted the photo. “I’ll add it to the Memorial Wall.”

“It’s, uh, not just me, y’know.”

“Huh?”

Chloe coughed into her hand. She handed the camera back to Max and looked away. The more she tried to muster up her voice, the smaller it came out.

“It’s not just me, Max, that’s gettin’ better.” Chloe sighed. “You look good, too. You always did. You’re freaking Max the Magician. Always showing up when I need you most.” She licked her lips, and now the quaver came back. “Ain’t no one better in the world than you, except for maybe Kate Marsh, of course...”

“Chloe...”

“Look, I’m rambling. I get it. But, come on, it’s true. I’ve always been your number one fan. Your partner in crime, your First Mate, your secret admirer, your—”

“What?”

“What?” Chloe blinked. Then, a second later: “Fuck, what did I just say?”

Max cleared her throat. “It, uh, sure sounded like you said—”

“Max, don’t. I swear to God, _don’t._ ”

“Chloe, I’m not—”

“I said leave it!”

“I’m not mad...”

Cheeks burning, beanie pulled low, Chloe whirled onto her friend for another fiery retort. But it died on her lips. She could only frown and search Max’s face.

“Y-you’re not?” she asked.

Max shook her head. She put away her camera before she took a step closer. Her hand, trembling, reached out to take Chloe’s. Their fingers interlocked, and Chloe’s heart went straight into maximum overdrive.

“Look, I was surprised when I found out about you and Rachel.” Max paused, working up to a reassuring smile. “I... I guess I didn’t see that coming when we were kids. But I never held it against you. And maybe it’s not _that_ surprising that you... well, that you had a thing for me.”

“Max, I... I don’t...”

“Chloe, it’s _fine._ Okay? It’s fine.” Max grinned. “Who knows? Maybe I had a thing for you, too.”

And just like that, Chloe’s heart flatlined all over again. “In your dreams, Caulfield.”

“Hey, news flash. You don’t know what I dream about.”

“Care to prove me wrong?”

But the moment the taunt left her lips, Chloe almost regretted it immediately.

Almost.

Because within the next three seconds, Max had crept forward on her tiptoes and leaned in all the way. She gripped Chloe by the cheeks, her tiny fingers pulling her in for a very sudden, very gentle kiss on the mouth.

Chloe let the kiss go on for another moment. It was softer and sweeter than she’d ever imagined. Not at all like the passionate kiss she’d dreamed about sharing with Rachel, or the sloppy makeouts she’d had with boys and girls up and down Blackwell. Max was gentle, questioning, and tender all at once. All in her kiss. And it drove Chloe insane, unleashing a jolt from the roots of her hair to the bottom of her feet.

She pulled back, gasping for breath, tears brimming in her eyes. Max stood back, crestfallen and quietly watching.

As she regained her composure, Chloe kicked herself. She shook her head and dabbed at her eyes. When she tried to speak, her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. “Ohh, we shouldn’t... we shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have...”

“Chloe, it’s fine—”

“Stop saying that!” Chloe winced at how loud her reply came out. She drew a long breath and held it for a while. Maybe then she’d wake up from this fresh hell. “Max, don’t you get it? I’m not about to go fucking up someone _else_ ’s relationship, okay? You’re with Kate! You can’t be with... with...”

 _Say it,_ that nagging bitch voice goaded. _Go on, girl. Say, ‘with me.’ You know you wanna..._

Chloe didn’t dare. She brushed past Max and headed back down the spiraling stairs.


	10. Abandon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe deals with the trauma of an accidentally intimate moment with Max.

**10\. Abandon**

By the time Max found her, Chloe’s epic retreat from the top of the lighthouse had ended halfway down. She clung to the railing of the spiral staircase, wheezing and whimpering. When she heard Max’s delicate feet ringing against the steps behind her, Chloe refused to turn around. Her stomach was killing her, but that pride wouldn’t let her quit. Not now. Not _this_ close.

_Forget it,_ the worm of doubt whispered. _You done fucked up now._

“Don’t... just don’t...” Chloe gasped for air. Fire raked its way across her mouth and down her lungs. “Jesus, I can’t even...”

Max’s voice reached her first, gentle and soothing. “Chloe, hey. It’s fine. I promise.”

Chloe bristled. “No, it’s not fine, Max! It’s not!”

She shook her head, and the railing shook under her grip. Why the hell did Max have to be so damn understanding all the time? It wasn’t fair. Nothing was fair in Chloe’s life. Never had been, if she thought about it. Hell, why even give her an amazing friend or a great dad if life was just gonna rip them right out of her bloody hands? If life was so determined to shit on her and lead her from stupid choice to another, then maybe she should’ve died in the bathroom with Nathan. Would’ve been _so_ much simpler than this bullshit. Chloe very nearly told Max that.

But rather than do that to herself, she hung her head in defeat. She didn’t mean it, if she were being honest. “Look, can we just... can we pretend it never happened? A-and Kate doesn’t need to know either, right?”

Max hesitated. “I don’t know if I—”

“Max, _no._ ” Growling through the pain, Chloe whirled around. She caught the railing with her other hand and cast an accusing finger at her friend. “Do _not_ tell Kate about this. Any of it.”

“She’d understand!”

“Like hell she would!” And to hell with this, thought Chloe. She decided to continue her dramatic exit. Right up until she took one more step down and felt a familiar, excruciating jolt across her midsection. Everything went white for a second, and Chloe fell back onto the railing with a tiny wheeze. “Agh... ohh, what the _shit,_ why now...?”

“Do you need your meds?” asked Max.

Chloe shook her head, now more upset at herself than anyone else. “I’ll be fine!” She paused to catch her breath. Paused to fight back her thundering heartbeat and wait out the pain. “Just... forget about it, Max. And, y’know, not a _word_ about this to Kate. Swear on it.”

“Chlo—”

“Swear it, Max!”

“Okay, okay! I swear!” Max moved forward again. A pair of soft hands came up behind Chloe to ease the weight off her legs. Slight relief tingled through Chloe’s back, and she couldn’t help but lean into her friend. Almost the same way she’d done on the way up to the top. Like nothing had changed between them.

Max again spoke in that gentle, forgiving tone. “Come on, one step at a time.”

“Sure, sure...” It was tiring being this mad and this much in pain. Chloe resigned herself with a sigh and let Max guide her down the rest of the way. Their footsteps clanged and echoed across the empty lighthouse.

* * *

Kate was already on her feet and waiting by the door when they came out. Her eyes went wide when she saw Max.

“Is everything all right?” she asked. Then Kate noticed Chloe limping, and a hand rose to her mouth. “Oh, geez. Chloe! Want me to run and get your cane?”

“Nah, don’t. Don’t worry ’bout it.” Chloe let go of Max at once. “I’m... I’m just winded. Ready to go?”

Kate hesitated. She glanced at Max. Max looked back at her, frowning, but she offered no explanation, thank God. The two girls exchanged something in a single look. Nothing that Chloe could read, partly because she wasn’t a part of their intense bond, and partly because oh fucking _God_ did her stomach have it out for her right then.

They piled into the truck and made the return trip in total silence. Chloe’s eyes locked onto the road, on the line of cars stretching out ahead of her in the early afternoon traffic. To look anywhere else, like the sunny coastline or the brooding forests—or, God forbid, at Max and Kate themselves—would only make her realize _why_ she was so upset. So she didn’t bother. Put all the chips into being a good driver and recovering from her war wounds. End of story. She didn’t even try for a distraction by turning on the radio. For all Chloe knew, she’d be tuning into a song that was chock full of nostalgia and happy times, and she’d be a blubbering mess before long.

Several minutes to one eternity later, they pulled up to the Blackwell student parking lot. Chloe slammed down her parking brake and waited.

Max hesitated before reaching across Kate to get the side door. In the corner of Chloe’s eye, they helped each other out of the truck, being small and delicate as ever. Goddamn, did they _have_ to do that in front of her? No one liked PDAs all the time, right?

Of course, it was Max who cleared her throat and tried to speak first. “Thanks, Chloe. It was... it was good to see you again.”

Chloe couldn’t respond. If she spoke, she’d regret it. So she ducked her head and waved back.

Kate added a sympathetic smile. “Hope you feel better!”

Her sweet tone burned through the bitter armor Chloe had tried to put up. Unnerved, she coughed and forced out her response in a tiny voice. “Y-yeah, thanks...” Without further delay, she keyed up the ignition and yanked back on the parking brake. “’Kay, bye!”

If the other girls hung around to watch her leave, Chloe didn’t know. Nor did she care. She was already zooming down the main road off campus, leaving skidmarks as she went. Trailing just as quickly, tears formed a vicious pattern down her cheeks. Chloe grit her teeth and slammed her fist into her steering wheel. The truck shuddered. Why wouldn’t it? They were in perfect sync: built from rusted metal and secondhand parts, blazing ahead without caution, and likely to fall apart at any moment.

* * *

Before the gunshot incident, Chloe’s retreat from pain strategy would’ve been threefold.

Step One: Find a safe spot. The junkyard and skating grounds were nice when accessible. The bedroom was always available, but risky for encounters with Mom and Step-Freak. The lighthouse was a last resort, given the nostalgia factor.

Step Two: Rock out with some killer tunes. Like, say, the Killers. The Decembrists or Ramona Falls also worked in a pinch. And, of course, you gotta crank that shit up loud.

Step Three: Blaze it up, or drink it down—whatever weed, pills, or drinks were on hand. Consume as needed until the pain subsided.

But that was before the big change of October 7, 2015. Since then, Chloe hadn’t set foot in the junkyard. She didn’t dare go back to the lighthouse. And she didn’t have the urge to go for beer or weed in her state. So, like a sad invalid, she holed up in her bedroom, washing down pain meds with soda and zoning out to “Santa Monica Dream” on a constant loop. The haunting lyrics of Angus and Julia Stone drifted through her brain, matching the gentle flutter of the American flag tacked above her bed.

Her relative peace and quiet didn’t last long. Nothing did, these days. Someone knocked on her bedroom door. Chloe growled and twisted over in bed.

“Go away,” she snarled.

Joyce’s soft, familiar tone came through the door. “Chloe, honey, can we talk?”

“I said go _away._ ”

“Then I guess you don’t want this here ice cream?”

The next retort on Chloe’s lips died right then and there. Really, when you got down to it, nothing was a better cure for a bad stomach pain than a refreshing ice cream sundae. And Joyce’s sundaes were the stuff of legend for both kids and adults across the Bay. Especially when you factored in chocolate syrup mixed with peppermint extract. That deadly combo was absolutely mouth-watering around Christmas, but tasty enough for any time of year.

Chloe relented and sat up. “Fine. Come on in.”

Joyce’s face appeared through the opening door. A moment later, so did the ice cream sundae, as promised. Chloe’s stomach gurgled in anticipation, but she hid it by turning her face away. Joyce wasn’t the least bit daunted. She set down the dish and spoon on a side table, finding an almost uncluttered spot. Then she took a seat on the bed, all while giving Chloe plenty of space.

Silence filled the distance between them. Seconds ticked by, and Joyce said nothing. She sat and waited, and she waited, and she kept on waiting until Chloe was so goddamn sick of it all. With a huff, she cast a sidelong glance at her mother.

“Jesus, _what?_ What do you want, Mom?” Chloe winced at the volume of her words. She sighed. “If you’re gonna give me ‘the talk,’ I’m not gonna be a good listener, so can we just—?”

“I wasn’t going to talk, Chloe.” Joyce shrugged. A long-familiar motion. “I just want to listen.”

“Ugh. Don’t play Dr. Laura with me, okay? I’m not gonna spill my feelings. It’s a bad mood day. End of story.”

“Honey, I’ve _seen_ your bad mood days. This is different.” She paused, adjusting her hands in her lap. “Is everything all right between you and Max?”

Chloe scoffed. “Just peachy.”

“I’m sure it is.”

Oh, _good,_ that loving, knowing tone was back. Just what Chloe wanted to hear. She whirled on her mother, ignoring how the sudden movement made her abdomen howl.

“What do you _want_ me to say? Christ! It’s not like...” She fought to find the right words. Something hot rose up in her throat. “It’s not like I can wave a magic wand and make life go my way! I’m not _you,_ okay? I’m not someone who’s got all her shit together! I get _mad._ I get hurt. A _lot._ And you just gotta, you just fuckin’ gotta let me deal with this because I can’t smile it away! I just _fucking_ can’t!”

With each passing second, the tension built up inside Chloe until she was overflowing. Until she was ready to crack wide open. And she _did_ crack. Her voice broke on the last sentence, and she couldn’t hold back the tears. The anger. The misery. It all came pouring out of her in one long river of shit, and Chloe wept. She didn’t resist when her mother reached and drew her into her arms, holding her to her breast like some snot-nosed kid on the playground.

Joyce’s voice was warm in her ear. “Shh. Let it out, baby girl. Let it all out.”

“I’m sorry...” Chloe sniffled. “S-sorry...”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, Chloe. You never have to apologize. Not after what you’ve been through.” Joyce leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “I’m just here to listen. I promise.”

For one long minute, Chloe wrestled with her opposing needs. She needed to stay cool. To be the untouchable badass, just like Rachel had been. Rachel, gone and buried. And she also needed to stop running from the truth. Because every time she ran facefirst into it, she turned into the world’s biggest crybaby. It was like physical therapy all over again, only she didn’t have the big strong nurse Roxanne coaching her on.

Finally, she drew a long breath. Reached up to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Her voice came out in a strangled whisper. “I... I love her...” She drew in a deep breath. “I love her, Mom. I love her so _much_...”

“I know. I know, sweetheart.” Her mother’s smile lit up the room. “You’re more obvious about it these days.”

Chloe laughed. It came out as more of a sob, but she did it anyway. It felt _good_ to laugh.

Joyce continued. “Max is a wonderful young woman. She’s lucky to have you in her life.” As she spoke, her hand rose to stroke the side of Chloe’s face. “I’m sure she’d understand if you were honest with her.”

“R-really?”

“Mm-hmm.” Joyce smiled again. “If you’re open to love, it’ll find you, sweetie. I know what you think about David, but that’s how it happened for me when we crossed paths.” She fell quiet. “And it was like that when I first met your father.”

Chloe’s heart sank. The memory of Dad’s grave flashed by. “I’m sorry...”

“Ain’t your fault, baby. It’s no one’s fault.”

“I know. I’m still sorry.” Chloe stopped to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. “Th-thanks for the talk. About Max, I mean.”

“Anytime, dear.” Joyce drew Chloe in for another hug. This time, Chloe returned it with as much force as she could muster. She buried her head in her mom’s shoulder and let out a gentle sigh. It was as close to content as she’d felt in a long time. Not even counting her reunions with Max.

_Fuck,_ thought Chloe. _The hell am I gonna do about that girl?_

Meanwhile, Joyce was there to brush at her daughter’s hair. She pulled free of their hug and chuckled. “Now you better hurry. Don’t want that ice cream to melt away, do you?”

With another laugh, Chloe nodded and reached for the bowl. “Okay, and like that, you’ve secured your place as Mom of the Year.”


	11. Holiday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe tries to start fresh with Thanksgiving. Then she gets an unexpected visit.

**11\. Holiday**

November’s end was approaching fast. Far too fast for Chloe’s taste. At least she’d gotten past her pity party in the bedroom. The CD with “Santa Monica Dream” on it was now hidden into the deepest recesses of her closet. She’d even started to give away or try on some of the old clothes that Rachel Amber had stashed in her closet. Not to burn out Rachel’s memory, like getting rid of an ex. This was strictly a pro-growth strategy, with no chance to slide back to her Blue Period selfies.

As the nights grew shorter, her patience got longer. Chloe didn’t leave the house as much, but she kept herself up and moving. Which was a good sign for her recovery, her doctor insisted. That scarring across the gut had finally come together. Doc had even given her a thumbs-up on the last exam. Chloe found herself reaching for the pills less and less, though that didn’t mean her days were entirely pain-free. But of course not. Why would anything be _too_ easy in her life? Still, a quick smile from Joyce or an encouraging nod from David was enough to lift her spirits.

But the physical pain subsided quick. Mental pain? Not so much. Every hour, on the hour, Chloe checked her phone. She clucked her tongue every time she _didn’t_ see a new text from Max. And when she did spot one, her finger trembled over the reply button.

The first round, from the beginning of the week, read as such:

> **_Max:_ ** _hey chloe_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _can we talk?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _call, text, or visit, whichever’s good for you_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _please?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _thx_

_Sure, Max, why not?_ Chloe’s heart raced a mile a minute. And while they were at it, they could chill at the Two Whales and watch Chloe make  _another_ spectacle of herself.

Being at home, however, had its perks. For instance, Chloe had a ton of unread or unfinished novels in her closet. Some of it was the good old punk stuff, classics like _Neuromancer, A Clockwork Orange,_ and _A Scanner Darkly._  Their value, though, didn’t hold a candle to the dogeared, yellow-paged kid’s books she rediscovered. Chloe couldn’t believe how much fun it was to read Samantha Greenbriar’s _Captain Allegra Adventures_ all over again. She’d learned that reading about the high seas while toking a joint made for some very interesting dreams later.

By the end of the second week, Chloe had received another round of texts from Max, her onetime partner in crime.

> **_Max:_ ** _hey First Mate_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _Warren’s got tickets to a Grindhouse festival in Newberg_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _wanna get in on this?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _..._
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _please?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _no worries, think it over_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _we’ve got til friday_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _xoxo_

A tempting offer, but Chloe didn’t relish the idea. She was afraid to ask if Kate would be joining them. And she was doubly weirded out with how this Warren dude might be around Max, given what she’d told Chloe a while back. Nossir, don’t wanna see where _that_ train goes off the rails...

In any case, Chloe found yet another key distraction. With Thanksgiving around the corner, there was food to prepare for the Price-Madsen family event. That meant a giant-ass turkey, mountains of mashed potatoes and stuffing, and the sweetest pumpkin pie with whipped cream ever invented. Chloe’s mouth watered just imagining it all. But compared to previous years, she was more determined than ever to pitch in.

Joyce, however, cut her off with a smirk. “Chloe, I appreciate it, but let me be perfectly clear. You go anywhere _near_ that turkey before it’s served, and there’ll be no biscuits and gravy for you this year. Understood?”

A terrifying threat, and one that Chloe felt deep in her bones. She nodded and retreated from the kitchen, responding over her shoulder with, “H-how about the pie crust? Can I do that?”

With a compromise secured, Chloe relaxed on the couch. Her mind wasn’t hooked on the TV for once. She was too busy digging out the phone from her pocket when another fountain of texts spilled over her phone’s lock screen. Sure enough, it was Max. Not a single text from the likes of Justin or Trevor anymore. Just Max, typing into the void, desperate for a sign from her BFF.

> **_Max:_ ** _Chloe_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _Chloooooooeeeee_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _i’m heading up to Seattle tomorrow_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _are you good for a last-minute chat?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _..._
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _please?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _pls Chloe?_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _you know what, it’s fine_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _i’m sure you’re busy, too_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _i’ll catch ya after the break_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _say hi to Joyce for me_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _xomaxo_

Sighing, Chloe hung her head. Dammit all, Max. She _had_ to be so cute, even when she was bugging the shit out of everyone.

For a moment, Chloe tried to picture herself actually going with Max to a Thanksgiving dinner with the Caulfields. The closest they’d ever gotten were the post-Thanksgiving leftover meals on the Friday or Saturday after. She got glimpses in her head of Max’s mom serving up a giant plate of turkey and stuffing, all smothered in gravy, and Max’s dad with his booming laugh. She wondered if Kate would be joining Max that year. Or did she have her own family to visit?

 _Huh,_ thought Chloe. _A nice, un-fucked-up thought about Kate Marsh. Must be progress._

With a slump back onto the couch, Chloe opened her text window on her phone and fiddled out a fast response. She didn’t give herself a moment to hesitate, to stop and reconsider, before she hit the send button.

> **_Chloe:_ ** _happy turkey day, mad max_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _xoxoxo_

* * *

Thanksgiving came and went fast. It blurred after they finished saying grace around the table until the next morning, when Chloe roused herself from her food coma. She lay spread-eagle on her bed, her stomach aching for reasons that went beyond the stitches on her abdomen. Pieces of memories clicked into place one at a time. She had a dim recollection of stealing sips from David’s beer when he wasn’t looking, along with snagging extra helpings of stuffing when she knew Joyce _was_ looking, if only to get a smile out of her. Now all Chloe could see was the piercing blue sky that crept through her open window. Another brisk November morning.

She supposed she should get up. Make her lazy ass do something the Friday after Turkey Day, even if it was clean up her room a bit.

Groaning, Chloe managed to sit up. Her legs wobbled underneath her. Suddenly, walking was about as difficult as trying to hold a pair of chopsticks. Chloe’s hand shot down and picked up the mobility cane from its spot on the floor. She shook off a pair of underwear from the handle and used it to right herself again. Had been a while, hadn’t it? She’d been doing pretty well these last few days, if she said so herself.

On the nightstand, her phone buzzed. Chloe hobbled over to read a fresh series of texts.

> **_Max:_ ** _wish you were here ;)_

Beneath it was a photo attachment. Chloe’s heart melted when she saw the selfie. A lovely candid shot of Max’s parents at the dinner table, with Max herself sticking through a corner in the foreground. Between them was a fairly good spread of food and drink, though nowhere near as scrumptious as what Joyce had prepared. Chloe grinned and immediately typed up what she hoped was a fitting response.

> **_Chloe:_ ** _nice_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _be honest, max factor_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _how many pounds did you put on yesterday?_
> 
> **_Chloe:_ ** _ur girlfriend will never do the bridal carry with u now_

She didn’t bother to wait for a response. Chloe put the phone back and went searching for a clean pair of pants and top. And, of course, she couldn’t go anywhere without her bullet necklace. It felt good to wear it again after a month-long break. Like getting to know an old friend again.

 _Sounds familiar,_ that nagging bitch-ass voice whispered. _At least your necklace won’t play games with your heart, huh?_

 _Ugh, you are the worst roomie ever,_ Chloe replied. Then she smacked the side of her head and said out loud, “C’mon, Power Girl. Get moving.”

After a none-too-gentle scrubbing of face and hair, Chloe emerged from the bathroom, now with ten percent less grunge. Her cane provided a nice _tap-tap_ on her way downstairs. For a moment, she was back at the hospital, enduring an intense PT session under Roxanne’s watchful eye. But there wasn’t anyone watching Chloe this time. Just her sleepy butt hobbling down a flight of stairs like some senior citizen, with a cane and everything. She chuckled at how she imagined she must’ve looked, and pushed ahead.

By the time she reached the bottom, Chloe half-turned toward the front door. Adjacent to it was the door to the garage. Already, she could hear David tinkering away inside. No doubt fixing up his muscle car again. He’d have the day off for the holidays, though Joyce didn’t give herself one from the Two Whales. Something that Chloe wanted to correct post haste. With flowers and a spa day, time and money permitting.

Chloe’s hand was stretching out to knock on the garage door. She stopped when she heard a knock beat her to the punch.

She blinked. A second later, her brain registered that someone _else_ was at their front door.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it!” Chloe called out. Doubted if David could even hear her past the radio and the metal taps on his engine. She shook her head and went to open the door when the visitor knocked a second time. “Christ, hold your horses, sistah...”

When she saw the cute girl standing outside, Chloe’s brain short-circuited. For half a second, she thought it was another one of those damn Jehovah’s Witnesses with an armful of pamphlets. But this wasn’t one of the old ladies that usually pestered their house.

Chloe locked eyes with Kate Marsh.

Kate cleared her throat. Her lips curved into a shy smile. “Um, hi?”

Out of instinct, Chloe slammed the door in her face. She spun around and hobbled back toward the stairs, her cane stabbing into the carpet as she muttered, “Shit! Shit, shit, shit...!”

Well, that did it. Never mind all that junk about making the most of her day. Chloe had one goddamn priority now: get back to her bunker and huddle down with whatever tunes and snacks she had on hand. The enemy forces were literally camped out on her doorstep, and she was _not_ prepared for a counterassault yet. She’d make a few apologies to Max, Joyce, and all other offended parties later. Much later, she figured. When she was off the pain meds, on which she could blame this whole reaction in the meantime, if she were crafty about it.

If David heard any of the commotion, he made no sign of it. The tinkering from the garage continued unabated. Instead, before Chloe could beat a hasty retreat to her room, she heard another knock from the door. Along with Kate’s gentle voice, muffled by the door.

“Chloe? Hello?” A pause. “Please, I-I’m not mad. I just want to talk.”

 _She’s lying,_ the evil voice in her head whispered. _She’s just here to tear you a new one._

“Stop it!” Chloe hissed.

“I’m sorry?” Kate asked.

Wincing, Chloe gave herself another smack upside the head. Now that nagging voice had gone too far. Kicking her when no one was looking? Fine. Whatever. She could deal. But not _this._ She was damn well not going to unravel so easily again. If she could power through a nightmare like physical therapy, Chloe could damn well face the girl standing outside.

She stopped to take a moment. Chloe breathed out the wad of stress building in her throat. When the hornet’s nest in her head fell silent, she nodded to herself. Slowly, her fingers brushed against the knob of the front door again.

Kate was still there. She wasn’t smiling anymore. Her face had contorted into a mask of quiet alarm. Chloe hated the idea of making her worry so much. She answered with a chuckle.

“Sorry, Katie Kat. I haven’t been thinking straight all day.” Chloe hobbled half a step back. “Did you, uh, wanna come in? If you’re lookin’ for Joyce, you just missed her. She’s at the diner, so we don’t have much—”

“No, it’s fine.” Kate found her smile again. “Actually, I came to see _you._ ”

Chloe licked at her bottom lip. “L-look, whatever Max told you... I didn’t mean it, okay?”

“I know you didn’t.”

“You know?” Chloe’s jaw snapped shut. She shook her head again. “I mean, r-right! Right! She kissed _me,_ so I, uh, I mean... I’m not exactly at fault for...”

But the more she spoke, the worse her words came out. Chloe kicked herself mentally and sighed out loud. She flashed a tired look at her friend. “No, you know what? I... I really _am_ sorry, Kate. I’m sorry if I came in between you two in any way. Okay?” She clasped her hands over the head of her cane and leaned forward. “You... you have every right to hate me, okay?”

Kate frowned. “Chloe, I don’t—”

“No, no, it’s cool. I mean, look, I fucked up. I didn’t _stop_ myself, y’know?”

“But Chloe, it’s not like—”

“And then, of course, after all the shit you went through that day, it’s like, what the _hell,_ right? I mean, why would anyone give you _more_ grief? So, please, you can chew me out or punch me in the arm. Whatever makes you feel better—”

“Chloe!” Kate’s voice, normally so quiet and soft, had risen in pitch. Chloe jumped back when she heard it. But Kate followed up with wide-eyed look and a hand over her mouth. She added, “Sorry. I-I don’t want to yell at you. Not like that. I really just want to talk to you. That’s all.” She waved vaguely in Chloe’s direction. “Can we... could we maybe take this inside?”

Chloe nodded. She stepped to the left and let Kate pass by.

It was half-past eleven in the morning and she’d had no coffee. She was _not_ ready for today.

* * *

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

The clock from the kitchen was getting on Chloe’s nerves, but she tried not to let it show. Having a fresh cup of coffee in her hand was a big help. Wisps of stream rising up from the brew made it easy to focus on her drink instead of Kate, sitting across the table from her, bathed in sunlight. She didn’t even drink coffee when offered. Instead, she sat with her hands clasped in her lap. An icy glass of water sat untouched on the table in front of her. The whole tableau felt like something out of a classy Renaissance painting. Like she was God’s own perfect maiden.

 _Jealous much?_ the worm of doubt teased.

Chloe ignored it. She took another sip and set down her mug. “So, I—”

“This isn’t—” Kate started to say.

They stopped almost immediately and stared at each other. After a second, Chloe giggled. Kate did, too.

Chloe shook her head, still grinning. “I’m sorry. Go ahead.”

“Thanks.” Finally, Kate sipped at her water and cleared her throat. “I just wanted to say, I’m glad we could sit and chat for a bit. I realize it must be kinda scary, having me show up unannounced after what happened with Max.” Her voice came out nice and steady, even as her finger teased itself over a button on her cardigan. “But it’s fine, Chloe. You don’t have to worry. I’m not gonna be some jealous girlfriend who’s charging after you. Max was _your_ friend before she was mine. You two have a... a chemistry together.”

“Sure, if you wanna call it that.”

“Well, what would you call it?”

“We were tight... once. On the verge of declarin’ our pre-teen love for each other.” Chloe dipped her head toward the table. “But then Dad died. And then Max left. And... and I dunno. We’ve been making up for lost time ever since.”

“I know. Max seems a lot happier since you’ve come back.”

Chloe needed a moment to parse that thought. She knew, deep down, that Max wasn’t a total loser. She hadn’t, for a start, gone anywhere _near_ the depths Chloe had sunk to over the last five years. No wild parties, scoring drugs and liquor on the cheap, no illicit tagging of walls with Rachel in the dead of night. But it never occurred to Chloe that Max might not have held up all that well herself. For one thing, why did she never talk about her days in Seattle? Had some shit gone down there? Maybe the little Caulfield jet plane had crashed and burned on that runaway. Something so shitty that spending time with shy nerds like Kate and sour balls like Chloe was a welcome relief.

She brushed away a strand of hair from her eye. “Yeah?”

Kate nodded. As she did, she reached for her glass of water. Then her hand froze. She blinked, shook her head, and withdrew her hand. After whatever _that_ had been about, she looked up at Chloe directly.

“I want to ask you something, Chloe. And I want you to be honest with me.”

Chloe blinked. “Uhh, okay?” Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her arms, waiting. “Shoot.”

“Are you...?” Kate stopped to clear her throat again. “Are you in love with Max?”

Every single nerve in Chloe’s body went haywire. She almost spasmed herself out of her chair. When the jolt passed, she tried to speak, but it came out tongued-tied. “Kate, I... well, you see...”

Kate sighed. “Please, just... just answer it for me. Just do me that favor, Chloe.”

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._ Once again, that kitchen clock was doing wonders for her sanity. Chloe tried to shut it out. She looked away from the kitchen, and from Kate.

Settling her gaze on the backyard, Chloe picked up a curious sight through the sliding glass door. Crumpled and weather-battered, a thick piece of cardboard sagged against the white picket fence. If she squinted, Chloe could see the crayon and paint that she and Max had dotted across its surface many, many years ago. Their little art project, cementing their friendship. They’d even drawn out half the cool things they wanted to do when they grew up. None of which included same-sex kisses, weed, or getting shot by psychos.

Nothing had turned out like they thought it would. Not one bit.

“Yeah,” Chloe answered. Her nose began to itch. She wiped at it. “Yeah, I love her. I love her so much it fuckin’ hurts.”

When she looked back, Chloe expected Kate to burst out a towering inferno of holy rage against her. Instead, to her surprise, she saw only a relieved smile on the other girl.

“Thank you, Chloe.” Kate sagged in her seat, still smiling. “That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Why’s that?” A thought occurred to Chloe. She scrutinized Kate again. “You’re up to something, aren’t you?”

The smile ran away from Kate’s face. “What do you mean?”

“C’mon, Kate. Drop the schoolgirl act.” Chloe smirked. “Even though you _are_ one. Look, you know what I mean. This whole coy intrigue bullshit. You wouldn’t just ask me about being into Max if you didn’t...” She blinked. “If you didn’t...”

When the reality hit her, Chloe hit back. She slammed her coffee mug down on the table.

Kate nearly jumped out of her seat. “C-Chloe? What are you—?”

“Damn, Kate. Are you seriously doing this?” No time to give her any quarter. Chloe leaned across the table, in full Bad Cop mode. “Do not... do _not fucking_  tell me you’re thinking of breaking up with Max over me!”

“I... I wasn’t...” Kate paused. Her bottom lip wouldn’t stop quivering. “I wasn’t going to dump her. Just... just step out of the way. That’s all...”

Hearing Kate’s voice crack didn’t do Chloe’s heart any favors. She got out of her chair—well, more like staggered out of it—and turned away from the table. No way was she gonna let Kate see the tears welling up in her eyes. Goddamn, what was it about this girl? Get her alone for, like, two seconds, and she could turn Chloe’s badass exterior into a pile of saccharine mush.

“I won’t let you do that,” she said quietly.

“Chloe, I don’t think you sh—”

“I said I _won’t._ Don’t even go there, Kate.” When she turned around, Chloe didn’t know or care if she was letting those tears fall. “Trust me. I’d love it if Max were to suddenly be head over heels for me. If she said, ‘Chloe, screw school. Let’s hit the road and never look back.’ I’d do that for her in a heartbeat.” She stopped to breathe and wipe her face. “But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you screw _your_ life over just to make me happy. I’ve asked too many people to suffer through my shit these past five years, and I’m not gonna make _you_ do it, too! If anyone’s walking away, it’s me!”

At the phrase _It’s me,_ Kate didn’t waste any time. She pushed her chair back and stood up. Then, like a good Christian girl, she pushed her chair back into the table. Brushed at her skirt. But she was falling apart on the inside, Chloe guessed.

Kate let out a stammer. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to upset you.” She clasped her hands together. “Maybe I should just go.”

Chloe almost let her. But instead, she called out, “Wait.”

When Kate stopped in her tracks, Chloe hung her head. “You don’t... you don’t _have_ to go.” She chuckled. “Man, I gotta stop blowing up at people. It’s gettin’ to be a bad habit. First, it was Mom, and now you.”

She didn’t let Kate leave this time. Chloe walked around the table, slow and steady, and reached out to pat her on the shoulder. “I’m glad you came by, Kate. It was... good... clearin’ all this shit out with you. You’re a lot braver than me, that’s for sure.”

Kate nodded, meek as a mouse. “Thank you.”

“And not for nothing, but you _did_ beat me to the punch on telling Max how you feel about her. Clearly, you’ve got more guts than me on that count.”

“You should tell her, too.” Kate smiled. “I hear confession’s good for the soul.”

“Trying to convert me already?”

“No, no. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Too bad. Might’ve worked comin’ from you.” Chloe started to laugh, but it quickly turned into a grimace. A sudden knot of pain from below the belt yanked the breath right out of her. “Aww, geez...”

Kate flinched. “Are you okay?”

“Goddamn scar’s acting up again. All that yelling didn’t exactly help me.” With one hand on her cane, Chloe hobbled over to the kitchen at a double-time march. “Hold up. Lemme just medicate real quick.”

In the kitchen was the secondary bottle of pills that Joyce kept for the sake of convenience. Chloe was able to shake out her meds into the palm of her hand. Then she remembered she needed to chase them down. Not to mention her throat was dry from yelling. She hobbled over to the sink, but Kate intercepted her first. Without a word, the quiet girl offered Chloe her glass of water. And without a word, Chloe took the glass and washed down her pills with a long drink. Almost instantly, her head cleared. The knot dissolved as the meds kicked in, and the water did wonders for her ragged throat.

Chloe sighed. “Ohhh, yeah. Much better...” Half-turning to Kate, she shook the bottle, letting the remaining pills rattle around inside. “You want some?”

Kate smiled and waved her off. “I’ll pass, thanks.”

Chloe regarded her for a second or two in silence. Half an hour ago, she’d been ready to kick Kate out. Now she couldn’t bear to see her go. She smacked her lips in rapid thought. “Well, look. I still feel shitty about all this. Can I make it up to you?”

Kate frowned. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Uh, dinner and a movie?”

“Really?”

“Sure. Max is outta town, and no one’s at Blackwell right now. What else were you gonna do?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “Not much, if I’m being honest.” Her face lit up. “I’d love to join you, Chloe. Just let me call my parents first, all right?”

Chloe winked. “Sure, sure. And don’t keep me waiting.”


	12. Bridges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kate and Chloe have a night to get better acquainted. Things take an unexpected turn for Chloe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all. Sorry for the delay. I've been busy, what with turning a year older and handling some stuff at home. And it didn't help that this chapter was tough to write. But I figure it'll all work out now. Thanks for reading.

**12\. Bridges**

Nothing like a girls’ night out to lift the spirits. Of course, the moment they hopped into her truck, Chloe realized that her usual range of options for a hangout were limited.

She frowned and fiddled with her side mirror, trying to stall for time. Not that Kate was gonna say a word against her. Damn girl was too polite for her own good. And that was the problem. Chloe couldn’t show off her secret shack down by the junkyard. She could already hear Max mutter something about catching tetanus or some shit like that. That also ruled out the lighthouse. Going there by night was going add another set of hazards trying to get up to that cliff. And the ill-timed kiss with Max was still fresh on Chloe’s mind. Why remind Kate about that mistake, too?

That left only one decent spot in the Bay to visit.

At least she knew Kate wouldn’t hate it.

Ten minutes later, they were back at the Two Whales Diner. The bell over the door announced their entrance with a familiar chime. Joyce shook her head with a smile as the two women took their seats in a corner booth.

“Mmph. You know, you’ll miss these meals when you’re away at college.” While she spoke, Joyce came by and offered Kate a menu, along with some silverware.

Chloe shrugged. “Well, duh. Whaddaya think I’m doing here so often?”

“So you say, darlin’.” The waitress turned to Kate, her voice softening. “Now, what can I get ya, sweetheart?”

Kate didn’t waste any time putting down her order. A cup of herbal tea and a slice of cherry pie. When Joyce left for the kitchen, Chloe spun back around and raised her brows at the other girl.

“What’s this? Dessert before dinner?” Chloe put a hand to her breast. “I’m shocked! Blackwell’s going to face a huge scandal when everyone hears about this!”

“Ha ha.” Kate’s smile was sardonic. Chloe thought it looked nice on her. Their conversation fell silent as Joyce came by with a soda for Chloe and tea for Kate. After enjoying a nice, long sip of her drink, Kate looked back at Chloe and added, “Not all of us can be rebellious like you.”

“You ever give it a try?”

The cup of tea paused halfway to Kate’s lips. “Oh, no. I wouldn’t dream of mouthing off to my mother like that.” She set her drink down. Stopped to fiddle with a napkin before setting it down in her lap. “It’s... it’s just not done.”

Chloe chuckled. “C’mon, be honest, Kate. What’s the worst thing you ever did or said?” She lifted her finger in warning. “And I don’t mean skipping church or saying a cuss word. I mean, what’s the most _selfish_ thing you ever did?”

“Well, if you’re gonna put me on the spot...” Kate mulled it over, taking another sip of tea as she did. Then she cleared her throat. “Okay, so this one time, I stole some flowers from a neighbor’s garden to use for a school project. We had to make this diorama and...”

Kate’s voice trailed off. It was hard, after all, to compete with Chloe doubling over in laughter.

Kate sighed and leaned back in her seat. “Really?”

“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I just...!” Chloe tried to catch her breath. She let out a final snicker before sitting back down. “Oh, God, that is precious! You really _are_ the world’s biggest cinnamon roll. Minus the sin, at least.”

“Hey, you asked.”

“I know, but... wow. That’s just so sweet, Kate.” Chloe couldn’t resist another giggle. “Damn. I _wish_ that was the only stupid thing I’d ever done.”

Kate put on a mock glare. It made her resemble an upset chipmunk. “Okay, then. It’s your turn. What’s your dumbest moment?”

Chloe’s face fell. Suddenly, Kate’s delaying tactic didn’t seem so crazy. She averted her gaze. Began toying with the salt shaker to her right. In her mind, it was easy to make it slide around the pepper shaker. Pretend they were just two competing players in a game of basketball, guarding and blocking like the real pros.

“You really wanna know?” She let the shakers clatter back into place before looking up. “It was when I started blaming all the shit in my life on Max leaving and my dad dying.”

“Oh.” Kate blinked. “Oh, gosh. C-Chloe, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

Chloe waved her protest down. “Ain’t your fault, Sister Kate. Seal of confession, y’know?” She shrugged. “Look, everything went downhill real fast. And it doesn’t help that I went from having a dad who was carefree and cool to a stepdad who was a military-grade prick. Kinda hard _not_ to rebel against that.”

Kate sat, lost in thought. In the ensuing silence, Chloe tried not to think about Max. All the way in Seattle, and probably having a good time with her folks. Or whatever friends she made up there. Hopefully, none of them were as cool as Chloe, but still, she worried.

“It’s funny.” Kate smiled to herself. “My dad is as devout as my mom, but he’s nowhere near as strict. He’s...” She struggled to find the words, only to end her remark with a shrug. “I mean, yeah, he’s firm. Bit of a disciplinarian. But he’s always kind when he speaks to me and my sisters.” Her gaze drifted to the window, toward the setting sun and the distant lighthouse. “He’s the only person I know who can quote Scripture and make it count for every occasion. It’s like his calling. I always wanted to be like him, if I’m being honest.”

It would’ve been rude, but Chloe almost cracked a joke about the apple not falling far from the tree in the Garden of Eden. As it was, that thought made her stop and consider her own dad. William Price was, to everyone who knew him, quite the merry prankster. He’d spent so many hours cracking dumb jokes of his own, clowning around for a much younger Max and Chloe back in the day. Even Joyce couldn’t resist a smile when the guy was around. Chloe guessed that she’d gotten her rebellious streak entirely from her dad. Couldn’t blame all of it on a reaction against the likes of David.

Chloe laughed. “Sounds like an amazing guy.” She winked. “But at least he made a pretty awesome daughter. Can I get an amen for that?”

“Chloe...” Kate shook her head, smiling. “I’ll give you a thumbs-up, and that’s all.” And she did just that, the smartaleck.

“Nice!” Chloe laughed and smacked the table. “That’s the closest I’ve ever seen you come to flippin’ the bird. You’ve learned well, grasshopper.”

She paused. Her mind wandered over what Kate had told her about her father, and about what they’d said to each other back at the house. That gap was closing itself an inch at a time.

 _Time to speed that up,_ Chloe thought, and she lifted her half-finished soda. “Hey. Here’s to awesome dads.”

Kate giggled and lifted her cup. “To loving fathers.”

* * *

Filled to the brim with homecooked food, the girls chatted a little while longer before heading back to the house. Chloe insisted that, in lieu of alcohol, no girls’ night out would be complete without a late-night movie marathon. She grabbed Kate by the hand and hauled her skirted butt upstairs. With the laptop warmed and ready, all that remained was which set of DVDs to grab. But Chloe didn’t expect was the film that Kate queued up on Netflix.

“ _Finding Nemo_?” Chloe glanced askew at her friend. “Seriously? Aren’t we a little old for kids’ movies?”

“Chloe, this is Pixar!” Kate pressed a hand to her heart. “It’s great for all ages!”

Chloe rolled her eyes. In one languid motion, she slumped onto the bed and patted a spot beside her. “Whatever, sunshine. Let’s get this sugar train a-rollin.”

“You’ll be crying by the end, I promise.”

“Ooh, a threat. I’ll take that action.”

But once the movie began, Chloe quickly found herself enjoying it. Hard not to like a movie with such vibrant, fluid colors and animation. She was practically swimming along with those Disney-eyed fish.

Of course, it wasn’t all jokes and excitement with Marlin and Dory. Every time it cut back to Nemo and the other fishies trapped in the dentist’s aquarium, Chloe couldn’t find the charm in those moments. Every little failed escape attempt. Every damn time they showed that dumb girl poking a fish in a plastic baggie until it died. Fuck, she could relate. She’d spent close to five years trying to break out of the Bay. She’d almost been “prodded” to death by dumb rich kids like Nathan Prescott. Jesus Christ, why _did_ they have to animate that aquarium so well? The more time the film spent there, the less Chloe could breathe. Fuck, she was drowning already. She had to go. She had to get out before—

“Hey.” Kate’s voice reached her from out of nowhere. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Chloe shook her head. She blinked back fresh tears. Through the haze, she recognized the familiar surroundings of her bachelor pad. Dammit. This was no time to get soft. She wiped at her nose and made a show of sniffling loudly. “Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Mind if we pause for a sec?”

As Kate paused the Netflix stream, Chloe took a few more breaths. Nice and slow. She tensed up again when a pair of delicate hands fell onto her shoulders. Only when Kate started to rub the knot in her back did Chloe groan and lean into her.

“Thanks,” she mumbled. “You’re an angel.”

“Don’t mention it. You’re carrying a lot of tension.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

Kate didn’t answer. After a minute or two of that blissful massage, she let go. Chloe sat back up, stretched out muscles that hadn’t been used in forever. That aquarium nonsense was gone now. She was back home. Back where she belonged.

Meanwhile, Kate’s finger hovered over the spacebar on the laptop. She met Chloe’s gaze with a silent question on her lips. Chloe nodded, and Kate started the movie back where they’d left off. And just in time for the big third-act climax, too. This time, Chloe didn’t undergo another panic attack. She reminded herself to pause and take long, lung-filling breaths. It was like working through PT all over again. She knew she could handle it.

Once the movie ended, Chloe grinned. “Okay, enough of that mush-fest.” She hopped off her side of the bed and went rummaging through the drawers on her desk. When she found the prized DVD, she flashed it toward Kate. “It’s time you were introduced to the wonder that is Ridley Scott’s masterpiece.”

“ _Blade Runner_?” The girl hesistated. “Is it scary?”

“Eh, some blood n’ guts. Nothing you can't handle, I promise.” Chloe grinned, unable to stop herself. “I mean, you ever see those crucifixes at church up close? Crazy attention to detail there. I’d say _Runner_ ’s on par with that kind of violent imagery.”

To her credit, Kate didn’t seem too offended. More pensive. “I want to say you’re wrong about that, but...” She stopped and shrugged. “Fine. But if I get nightmares, it’s all your fault.”

“Guilty as charged.” Chloe bowed as extravagantly as she could. She spun around and dropped the DVD into its waiting tray. “Now, scoot over. This is gonna be a trip.”

* * *

When morning rolled around, Chloe yawned into her hand. Blinked away the sunlight trickling in through the half-open window. She didn’t react much to the weight around her torso. Waking up next to someone was nothing new for her, much as Joyce didn’t like to admit it. Hell, even Max had been a bit of a cuddler when they used to have their own epic sleepovers. But Chloe didn’t feel all that pleased when she saw that Kate Marsh was fast asleep, with both arms wrapped around Chloe’s midsection, like she was snuggling a teddy bear.

“Mmgh... Kate?” Chloed nudged at the girl’s shoulder. “Katie Kat? Hey, now. Wakey-wakey...”

Kate mumbled something in her sleep. Her response was to tighten her hug. Chloe blushed.

“Gonna be like that, are you?” She paused to examine her friend’s gorgeous unbound hair. The Christian girl usually kept it in a modest bun, but overnight, her hair had turned into some kind of Rapunzel-type mess that flowed over her shoulders. Chloe brushed away a loose strand of hair from Kate’s forehead, tucked it behind her ear. “So fluffy...”

Watching her sleep, Chloe thought she understood something about Kate’s appeal. Or, at least, whatever Max saw in her. Physical features aside, Kate didn’t have the wild child flair of some Vortex Club preppie or the seductive rockstar energy that Rachel carried in her flannel pocket. Given Max’s social anxiety growing up, why wouldn’t she fall for someone who lived a total drama-free life? Someone who was quiet, demure. When Max didn’t go for Friday night parties or painting the town red, there was Kate Marsh, the girl living across the hall who had tea parties and Pixar movie nights instead. And given whatever shit she’d been through at the one Vortex party she’d attended, who could blame her for never wanting to go out ever again?

Chloe decided, however things worked out between her and Max in the future, she’d try to find some safe way to get Kate out of her shell. To erase the hell created by Nathan and Jeffershit.

“Much as I’d love to just stay here...” Chloe tilted her head down, low enough to brush her lips against the other girl’s forehead. Hard not to smell the flowery shampoo in her hair from that close. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Rise n’ shine already.”

Kate’s eyes fluttered open. Her lips curved into a smile. But a moment later, that smile vanished. She gasped and pushed herself off Chloe. Her legs scrambled her so fast to the other side of the bed that she looked like she might fall of at any second.

“Sorry!” Kate exlclaimed. She rubbed at her eyes. “Sorry about that, Chloe. I... what time is it now?”

“Uh, time for breakfast and a shower?” Chloe shrugged. “Something like that anyhow.”

“Oh. Okay.” Kate brushed back her hair. “I didn’t expect it’d be so... so comfortable in here.”

“Well, what’d ya expect? It’s my room, ain’t it?”

“I guess so.” Kate paused. Then she let out a giggle. “And thanks for last night. That was a cool movie.”

Chloe nearly pumped her fist in victory. She knew it’d been a good call. “Sure is. So, you think Deckard’s a replicant? Or is that just my imagination?”

Kate frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe?” She turned her head, searching the room. “Um, hey. Stupid question, but... have you seen my skirt anywhere? I thought I left it here.”

“Uhh....” Trying not to look down, or acknowledge that Kate was only wearing a blouse and underwear under the sheets, Chloe searched her room a little harder. When she spotted the skirt, she bit her tongue. The black little number was half-tucked under the desk, covered in a layer of dust bunnies from all the lack of cleaning that space got.

“Oh, shit.” Chloe palmed the side of her head. “Super sorry, Kate. It needs a cleaning. And knowing me, probably an exorcism, too.”

“It’s fine. Can I borrow some pants, at least?”

“No problem.” This time, Chloe sized up the girl. Petite and thin, but she could work with that. She pointed her thumb at the closet. “Rachel left some clothes here. I’d say they’d fit you no problem.”

Kate smiled in relief. “Thanks.”

When she got up, Kate stretched her arms over her head and let out a tiny sigh. Chloe tried—and failed—to not be so obvious, but she couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t every day that some cherubic girl next door waltzed across her bedroom with no pants on. And those legs, slender and sweet, were a delight. She hadn’t ever thought of Kate Marsh as anything but a classmate and a good person before. Now, she was beginning to feel a touch jealous toward Max again. On top of a good set of parents and a stable academic path, she had to have a cute and alluring girlfriend, too? What kind of guardian angel did that hipster have?

Chloe shook her head. No time to feel down on herself. As Kate disappeared into the closet, she cleared her throat. “Uh, see anything you like?”

The closet door reopened, and Kate emerged with a pair of black acid-washed jeans on. Not something Chloe would’ve given a second glance at, but she recognized the fit of those jeans well enough. They’d belonged to Rachel Amber, a thought that didn’t make her heart well with up with sudden pain. For once.

Kate, meanwhile, looked a touch embarrassed. “I think this is about the only modest thing you’ve got.”

“But it looks stellar on you, girl.” Chloe’s eyes danced up and down the girl. She let out a wolf whistle. “You’ll be turning heads in class and at Mass for sure!”

“Cut it out...” Kate’s blushing grew worse. “I’m not _that_ good-looking.”

“Then you haven’t checked yourself in a mirror lately.” Chloe was surprised to hear the serious tone in her voice. But she couldn’t stop herself. Her eyes locked onto the girl. “I mean it, Kate. You’re... you’re a real catch. Max is unbelievably lucky to have you.”

Kate didn’t respond right away. With an awkward step forward, she came back to the bed where Chloe lay on her side. The other girl hesitated. Then she sank onto the bed, as Chloe sat up. Their eyes never once left each other. Kate’s face had turned bright-red. From this close, Chloe could hear the shallowness in her breath. Could practically feel the heart racing in her chest. Hers was doing its own mad dubstep, too.

“Do you really mean that?” she whispered.

Chloe smiled. “Yeah...” Without even thinking, she lifted a hand and brushed away a strand of hair from the side of Kate’s face. “I sure do—”

The phone on Chloe’s desk vibrated. Both girls leapt away from each other, faces flushed and hearts pounding. Chloe let out a nervous giggle, even as her brain let out a litany of _Shit, shit, shit, motherfuckin’ shitballs._ Kate, meanwhile, took the initiative and checked her phone on the desk. When she did, her voice came out in a tiny quaver.

“It’s Max.”

Chloe’s heart sank. And it’d all been going so well, too. Christ, what were the odds?

Kate continued reading the text. “She’s, uh, heading back today. Says we ought to meet her at the dorms. Something big she wants to tell us.”


	13. Entangled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Kate return to Blackwell for an important chat with Max. Everything shifts between the three girls.

**13\. Entangled**

If anyone were to ask Chloe—and really, they should’ve—she would say that it was pretty fucked-up how the sky could be a nice blue whenever shit was going wrong in her life. Like, dammit, was it too much to ask that everything be gray and rainy when things went south? TV and movies had lied to her with bullshit like that. She hated how everything on the drive up to Blackwell Academy was so smooth and clear. Rows of pine trees swayed in the wind, their green tops like outstretched hands against a clear blue sky. And Kate Marsh, sitting in a ray of angelic sunlight beside her.

At least _she_ looked anxious, too. Chloe took what comfort she could get.

When they pulled into the student lot, Chloe considered grabbing a handicapped spot and using her hospital-issue placard. But she hadn’t used it before, and she wasn’t gonna pull that shit with Kate watching. So, she circled around until she found an empty spot. Yanked up the parking brake and listened to her engine purr itself to sleep again.

Chloe stared out her windshield. She saw a deserted school. Half the kids would be back home for Thanksgiving with their folks. Nothing but manicured lawns and squirrels outside.

“Hey.” As she opened her door, Kate offered  her hand. “Come on. You’ll be fine. I promise.”

Chloe smiled back. “Pinkie swear?” She extended her little finger. Waggled it a bit.

Kate laughed, and wrapped her finger around Chloe’s. That little squeeze did the trick. Chloe hopped out of the truck, not even bothering with her cane. It was enough to go slowly onto campus, with Kate matching her pace.

Leaves fell across the empty quad as they headed toward the student dorms. Chloe shivered and pulled the front of her black jacket tight around herself. “It’s weird being back here.”

“Yeah.” Kate glanced around. “I’ve never seen it this empty before.”

“Kinda nice, though.”

“Yeah.”

They fell silent. Nothing else they could say as they turned the corner toward the dormitories. No more squirrels to distract them. No crusty old janitor sweeping up. Total ghost town. Chloe couldn’t even catch a whiff of that sweet Mary Jane, to let her know that the skater bros had been by here. She missed kicking it with Justin and his Rat Pack. Talking shit about the preps and getting blazed like there was no tomorrow. Good vibes all around, just like when Rachel had been there.

 _Take a good look, kiddo._ Oh, fucking good. That obnoxious little worm was back in her head. _You’re gonna be alone like this forever, especially when Maxie’s through with you._

 _Not even dignifying that with an answer,_ Chloe retorted. And just to prove it, she reached out and squeezed Kate’s hand.

Kate squeezed back. For that moment, all was right with the world.

As they entered the front steps of the dorm, Kate cleared her throat. When Chloe looked at her, the girl was wearing an odd smile. “Last chance to run for it.”

“What?”

“Well, if you were gonna run, now’s as good a time as any.”

“Uh, okay. Who are you, and what have you done with the _real_ Kate Marsh?” Chloe let out a laugh, more nervous than she wanted it to sound. “Jesus H. Christ, if that was your attempt to make me feel better...”

“Well, did it work?”

Chloe hesitated. “You know, for a second there? Yeah. It kinda did.” She didn’t hesitate when she pulled Kate in for a side hug. The girl melted into her like butter. “Look, whatever happens, let me handle it. Me an’ Max... we’ve gotta air this shit out. I’ve been hiding from this fight for a while now.”

Kate nodded. “Okay. But you let _me_ know when you want my support.”

“Heh. Will do, Katie Kat.”

Glancing over at the front door to the dorm, Chloe swallowed. Her eyes fixed on the golden plaque, which had been covered over with fresh graffiti and stickers. But through the mess, she could still read the name of the building.

_Prescott Dormitory._

Fresh crimson lines of pain obscured Chloe’s vison. She felt like she was falling. She grabbed for a cane that wasn’t there. Jesus fuck, where was it? Where was _she?_ Why’d they come here?

“Chloe?”

That soft, sweet voice brought her back. The red lines faded back into a dull golden plaque.

“S’okay.” Chloe took a long, ragged breath. Fought back the lump in her throat. Fought against the nausea in her stomach. Her hand made a death grip on Kate’s, but the other girl didn’t protest. “Case of the nerves. Let’s go and do this before I change my mind.”

* * *

They found Max waiting in her room near the end of the hall. When Kate opened the door, Chloe peeked over her shoulder. Saw Max sitting at her desk, framed by the sunlight pouring in through her open window. Damn, that hipster must’ve borrowed whatever holy light Kate owned. She could make even a t-shirt and hoodie look angelic. Or maybe it was just the gleam in Max’s eyes that made her beautiful to Chloe.

It wasn’t lost on her either that Max had been staring at a photo. She held the Polaroid in her hand for another second before trying to toss it onto her desk. But not fast enough. Chloe saw the picture and knew it immediately. Her and Max, age ten. Someone’s birthday party.

Chloe coughed into her hand and closed the door behind her. “Where’d you get that?”

“Joyce gave it to me.” Max glanced away, her cheeks flushing. “A-about a month ago. You were, uh, still in recovery at the hospital.”

“It’s fine, Max. No sweat off my back.” Chloe lifted her hands. “Mind if I sit? Pretty please? My legs are gonna snap with all this, uh...”

“Oh, please!” Relief spread across Max’s face. She leapt to her feet and raced over to the couch. “Here, let me just... tidy up!”

Watching the girl push away a few books and some clothes, Chloe almost laughed. Her room was ten times worse than this. Then again, she could only imagine how immaculate Kate’s room must’ve been, so maybe Max’s standards for cleanliness were higher now. In any case, she didn’t resist when Kate guided Chloe to a spot on the couch. She also didn’t miss the quick nod that the two girls exchanged as Kate sat down.

Chloe glanced between the pair. “Uhh, okay. Anyone wanna fill me in on the big news?”

“Right!” said Max. Chloe watched the little jumping bean tweak her way over to the bed across the room. She sat down, but she couldn’t keep still. Her hands fidgeted in her lap. That flash of nausea in Chloe’s stomach came back with a vengeance, but she tried to smile and wait politely.

Meanwhile, Max brushed at her hair, collecting her thoughts. “So... I did some soul-searching over the break. Had a good chat with Mom and Dad.” She paused. “They say hi, by the way. Can’t wait to see you in person.”

Chloe smiled awkwardly. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“And I...” Max opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything else. She closed her mouth, reconsidered, and then blew out a sigh. “Look, we’ve talked this over. Kate and I. We don’t think you did... you didn’t do anything wrong or...”

“Max? Hey, what’s on your mind?” Chloe teased a look over at Kate. “Would it be easier if I weren’t here?”

Kate shook her head. “It’s all right, Max.” She turned to give her girlfriend an encouraging smile. “You can do this.”

That nausea in Chloe’s stomach got worse. The hell kind of game were they playing here?

Max breathed out in relief. “R-right. Thanks.” She smiled back, and then turned to Chloe, all serious again. “This isn’t easy for me to say. But I want to make a fresh start. With you, Chloe.”

“I do, too.” Chloe took a risk and grinned. “Where the Cap’n goes, the First Mate follows.”

“That’s not exactly what I was proposing.” Another deep breath from Max. “What I’m asking is this: how do you feel about me and Kate?”

Now it was Chloe’s turn to fidget in her seat. “About what? Bein’ gal pals?”

“Be serious. You know what I mean.”

“Okay. Shit, I mean...” She risked another look at Kate. Still saw that encouraging smile. “Look, you two are adorable. Like, scientifically proven and shit. You’re perfect for each other. All right? God’s honest truth.” Chloe frowned. Tasted acid on her tongue, but spoke past it. “What you don’t need is me gettin’ in the way.”

“But we like you, Chloe,” Max insisted.

It didn’t show on her face, but Chloe winced inside. Great, there it was. The answer she’d been expecting. The “let’s just be friends” response. Christ, she’d been ready for it all morning, but it didn’t make it any easier to bear. Like ripping off a week-old Band-Aid.

Well, no putting it off any longer.

 _You win,_ she told the worm of doubt. _Hoo-fuckin’-ray for you._

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.” Chloe tried to get off the couch, ignoring Kate’s hand on her arm. When Max didn’t reply, she snapped, “I said I _get_ it. I’ll step back. I stay in the friendzone or whateva the kids call it these days—”

“But we _like_ you, Chloe,” Kate interrupted.

Something in her tone stopped Chloe’s rant short. She frowned and examined the cherubic girl to her right. Could confirm after a minute that, yes, this was still Kate Marsh, in the flesh.

“Uh, excuse _moi_?” Chloe looked over at Max, still helpless. Read her friend’s neutral expression. “Caulfield, what have you got up your sleeve?”

Max spread her hands out, her voice quiet and earnest. “Like I said, I did a _lot_ of thinking over the break. And a lot of texting with Kate.” She shrugged. “We... had some thoughts about the kiss you and I shared. And we both realized that we weren’t exactly...” A pause. Then, after a moment’s thought, Max let out an adorable schoolgirl’s giggle. “Well, we weren’t _against_ the idea of you and me being an item.”

Chloe didn’t say anything for a long time. Then, ever so slowly, she reached one hand over and pinched herself on the arm. Hard as she could.

And boy did it _hurt._

“Jesus, fuck!” Chloe winced, as did Kate. Then Chloe had her hands up and waving. “Sorry, sorry! Had to be sure I wasn’t havin’ that dream again.”

Kate offered a bemused smile. “You dream about Max asking you out?”

“Yeah, I... shit! Wait, I mean, no!” A blush spread like wildfire over Chloe’s face. She tugged down her black beanie. “Crap. I wanna die...”

But Max didn’t let up. Her tone was equally amused. “Chloe, did you think I was gonna call you over just to yell at you?”

“Max? I don’t have a goddamn clue what I think anymore.” Chloe glared up at her. Her finger shot out and pointed to Kate. “Between _you_ and your angelic girlfiend, I’ve been questioning every fuckin’ inch of my sexuality over the last month and a half! I... I’ve been losin’ my shit for _weeks!_ Actual _weeks,_ Max! And now you... you just go and tell me... tell me that...”

The fire left her as soon as the last of the words came out. Chloe buried her face in her hands. Kate didn’t hesitate. Her gentle hands began to rub at her friend’s shoulders, working out the knot of tension between the blades.

“Why,” Chloe asked, “does every reunion of ours turn out so goddamn confusing?”

“I wish I had an answer for you,” Max answered. She rose from the bed and moved to join Chloe on the couch, sitting opposite Kate. Her hand fell onto Chloe’s thigh. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Chloe shook her head. “No...” She started to say more, but it came out as a groan and she clutched at her temples. “No, I’m gonna be a total mess for the rest of the day. If that’s cool with you...” She sniffled. “M-my head’s spinning a little. Think I’m gonna lie down...”

She didn’t see whatever look the other girls gave each other. Neither did she resist when Max and Kate led her by the hand to the bed. Chloe dropped like deadweight on top of the sheets, her eyes squeezed shut as Max and Kate crowded in around her. She didn’t ask why. She didn’t care anymore. Didn’t care about a damn thing now. Couldn’t even tell if this was all really happening, or if her head was still fucking with her. In either case, she let the soft warmth of Max and Kate’s bodies lull her into a deep, soothing rest.

* * *

Outside Max’s window, the birds were singing. That was the first thing Chloe heard when she woke up. She yawned and tried to stretch her arms, but found herself blocked. Looking down, she saw Kate once again wrapped around her like a girl with her teddy bear. No unbound hair, but she still rocked those acid-washed jeans. Chloe decided that she wouldn’t mind waking up like this every day. Maybe there was hope that she could still get Kate into Bay City College, too. Of course, it’d only be a dream come true if they could also shanghai Max into the living arrangement.

Speaking of Max, as Chloe tilted her head, she found the hipster queen sitting at her desk. From behind, she couldn’t see what her friend was doing. Scribbling down something into a notebook. But what juicy secrets was she spilling? Chloe just had to find out.

Without a word, she untangled herself from Kate. Slid off her boots as quietly as she could, and padded across the room. Max was nosy, but that didn’t quite make her an observant girl. A shared childhood meant she never saw the tackle hugs coming until it was too late. Chloe had to test those reflexes for herself. But instead, she failed to notice a stack of textbooks on the floor right behind Max’s chair. Chloe only found them when she smacked one of her big toes right into a hardbound cover. She yelped, and Max spun around, dropping her pen at once.

“Son of a bitch!” Chloe hissed. She rolled onto her back and clutched at her throbbing foot. “Aargh... dumbass!”

Max watched her in alarm. “You okay?”

“Ohhh, just peachy, Maximillian.” With a grunt, she hauled herself to her feet. Well, more appropriate to say her one foot. She hobbled herself into an upright stance and leaned heavily on the back of Max’s chair. At least her embarrassment took the edge off her physical pain. “Serves me right for trying to surprise ya.”

“You always did have catlike tread.”

“Can it, sweet cheeks.” By now, the pain had receded enough to let Chloe grin. She peeked over Max’s shoulder and looked at what was on her desk. A giant notebook full of lined paper, with tons of doodles and cute handwriting covering its surface. “Aww, how precious. ‘Dear diary, today I made it to second base and held _hands_ with my super-cute girlfriend!’”

Max slammed the book shut. “We’ve done more than that and you know it.” Her stark tone didn’t match the blush spreading on her face. “And so what if she is super-cute?”

“Hey, I was makin’ fun of you, not her.”

“And you think she’s cute, right?”

Chloe paused. Longer than she would’ve liked. “I... I mean, yeah.”

“And how about me?”

A longer pause followed. Only the birds sleeping and Kate’s light snoring could be heard. Chloe didn’t think she could keep quiet for too long. Max would never let hear the end of it.

And truth be told, she hella loved that quality about her.

“I just... I’m...” Chloe sighed. She hung her head, unable to look her friend in the eye. After a moment, she bent forward and wrapped her arms around Max, giving her a long hug from behind. “Okay, Max. You got me. I’m fucking crazy about you. Always have been.”

“Same to you, it seems.” Max reached up to pat at Chloe’s arms. Even stroked her forearm with a growing smile. “Listen, I know this all seems sudden. What Kate and I pulled on you just now. But come on. I don’t even _know_ how you ask somebody to be part of a romantic relationship that you already have going on.”

Chloe snorted. “They sure don’t teach you that in Sex Ed.”

“And they don’t teach you how to pick things up after being gone for five years.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it, Max. I’m done holding that over your head.”

“Well, maybe I’m not done with it.” The hand that stroked along Chloe’s arm traveled upward. It stopped when it came to the side of her face, giving it a few caresses there, too. “Either way, it’s gonna be a bumpy road ahead. I don’t know how things’ll turn out. Kate and I will be here, but you’ll be off in Bay City soon.”

“So we’ll do it right this time. Make it a real long-distance relationship.” Chloe paused, then shrugged. “Or, y’know, maybe I _don’t_ get accepted and we do something else. I’ll... I dunno, get a job at the diner or something. Do somethin’ that’ll keep you two lovebirds around.” She licked her lips, fighting past the jitters in her gut. “Because I do, Max. I... I really do wanna keep you both around.”

Max brightened. “So you’re in? For reals?”

“I guess so.” Chloe let out a shaky laugh. “Man. Never thought I’d live to see this. Being asked to date only the two cutest Blackwell babes. I’m freaking stoked!”

“You should be.”

Max and Chloe turned around. They saw Kate sitting up in bed, stretching her arms out to the sides. An angel stretching her wings. After a few blinks, she cast a sleepy smile at the other girls in the room.

“This is probably the most daring thing I’ve ever done,” Kate added. Her voice grew stronger. “But I’m glad I’m doing it with the two of you.”

Max let out a small, affectionate noise. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re strong enough to handle this. I know you are.”

“Thanks.” Kate looked over at Chloe. “If it helps, we’re not going to make this public. The school’s enough of a rumor mill as it is. Especially about me.”

Chloe shook her head. “Hey.” Letting go of Max, she went to the bed. Kate scooted over and offered her hand. Chloe gave it a long, loving squeeze.  “You don’t need to worry ’bout me. Anyone starts talking shit about you, just gimme their names. I’ll handle ’em.” She added, with a vicious grin, “Gangsta-style!”

Kate suddenly looked worried. “Please don’t...”

“She’s just teasing you,” Max said. Then she shot Chloe a warning glare. “Mostly.”

Chloe could only laugh at the girl’s attempt to look tough. “Yeah, you know it, gurl. I’m all bark, no bite.”

Kate was quiet for a moment. Her hazel eyes searched Chloe’s face, and the other girl couldn’t repress a slight shiver. Like someone walking over her grave.

“Can... can I ask you something, Chloe?” Kate asked.

“Sure thing, babe.”

“Can I...?” Kate chewed on her bottom lip. Her fingers twisted around each other in her lap. “Maybe I’m going too fast, but can...” She paused, and then smiled. “Can I kiss you?”

“Uhh...” Chloe didn’t trust her immediate instincts. She felt like jumping the beauty right then and there would’ve been... disrespectful. An outrage. Instead, she drew back and looked over her shoulder at Max. Pleading with her eyes. “Only if your girlfriend says it’s cool.”

To her credit, Max’s only response was a cheeky grin and a thumbs-up. Swallowing, Chloe turned back to Kate. She didn’t even have to try. Kate was already reaching up for her face. Soft hands pressed into Chloe’s cheeks, and she had to fight to keep breathing. So did Kate. They stared into each other’s eyes as Kate closed the distance. Chloe’s heart thundering in her chest.

It was nothing like what she’d had with Max at the lighthouse. Max had been the one leading that kiss. This time, as their lips met, Chloe could taste the anxiety in Kate. That nervous, doubting tension spiraling up through her throat. So she reached her arms out and pulled Kate closer. With each second ticking by, Chloe grew bolder. Poured herself into Kate like a waterfall, until they were both moaning and breathing hard. When Chloe finally pulled out, she ducked her head, brushing the tip of her nose against the other girl’s sweat-slick brow.

Chloe blinked. “Whoa...”

After a second, Kate’s eyes fluttered open again. She flashed a delirious smile. “Yeah...”

Tender as the moment was, it died the moment they heard the _click_ of a shutter. Chloe spun around to see Max pointing her retro camera at them. A Polaroid frame slid out the front, and she waved it through the air with a huge grin on her face. Chloe growled at her for the offense, but Kate didn’t seem upset in the slightest. She just giggled behind her hand.

“I’m saving this in my journal.” Max slid the photo into her notebook. “No one else will see it, I swear!”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. “You’ll die by a thousand cuts if they do, hippie.”

Max smirked. “Come on. It wasn’t all _that_ bad, right?”

As she spoke, Kate leaned into Chloe’s shoulder. Her eyes fell half-shut, and Chloe couldn’t believe what she was seeing. That precious smile made her forget about stitches across her belly and bullets digging through her gut. Not even that pissy white worm of doubt had anything to say to ruin the moment. Another blessing to consider, when you added the fact that Chloe now had _two_ girlfriends to look after.

“Nope,” said Chloe. Without looking, she grabbed Kate and drew her in for another hug. “Not bad at all.”


	14. Harbor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With true love secured, Chloe helps Max discuss some of her lingering fears. Kate has some good news to declare.

**14\. Harbor**

Hours passed, much faster than Chloe expected. She’d wasted plenty of time with Rachel at the junkyard or with the skater bros downtown, but doing it in a prep school dorm? Totally out of her element, but she couldn’t be happier. Just lounging on the bed, with Kate on one side and Max sitting across the way. All smiles and chatter about everyone’s Thanksgiving. Chloe cracked one or two jokes about Kate and her time with the “American Gothic” family, but mostly she sat and listened to her friends—her  _ girlfriends, _ she reminded herself.

Man, she still couldn’t quite believe the turnaround. She wondered how Joyce and David might take it once the news came out. But then Chloe remembered, no, she was a grown-ass woman and she wasn’t gonna explain  _ shit _ if she didn’t feel like it.

That feeling turned into a low rumble in her throat. Like a dog growling. Only, a moment later, Chloe realized it was just her stomach. She glanced down at her midsection and said, “Oh, hush.”

Kate stopped halfway through her story and giggled. “I guess we’ve been sitting around long enough.” Then her face lit up. “Let’s get lunch!”

“Do we have to leave?” asked Max. From her spot on the chair, she glanced toward Chloe with a mopey face. “I’m kinda feeling like staying in now.”

Chloe waited for more, but when none came, she scowled. “What, are you asking me for permission?” She laughed and flicked her wrist. “Max, you’re a goddamn adult. I’m not gonna tell you to go or stay.”

“Yeah, but how do  _ you _ feel about going out?”

“Who gives a shit?”

“I do!” Max looked over at Kate for support. “We  _ both _ do.”

Kate nodded in agreement. A stab of guilt flashed through Chloe’s chest. When the hell was she gonna join in on their mystic Sapphic telepathy bond?

Rather than spew all that nonsense, she shrugged. “Look, it’s fine, Max. If you wanna stay, then we’ll stay.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, totally.” After a pause, Chloe decided to extend an olive branch, so to speak. Less impressively, she stretched out for her hand. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”

Max smiled and squeezed her hand tight. Something like an electric current jolted up Chloe’s arm. Literally, she could feel the hairs on her neck stand upright.

As Chloe exchanged warm and fuzzy aura with her bestie, Kate got up from the bed and made a vague motion toward the door. “How about this? There’s a vending machine in the cafeteria. I’ll grab us something from there, okay?”

Slowly, Chloe let go of Max. “Sounds perfect. Want me to come with?”

“No, no, that’s okay.” Kate flashed an odd smile toward Max. Damn, Chloe did not enjoy being locked out of their mystic schoolgirl bond. “You’ve seen plenty of me lately. Now it’s Max’s turn to get some quality time.”

Chloe grinned. “Ooh-la-la! I didn’t know I was in such high demand.”

“In your dreams!” Max countered.

“You sure I’m not in yours, Max?” For maximum effect, Chloe turned and waggled her eyebrows at the other girl.

They were so caught up in their flirting—and boy, did it feel nice to say it—that they didn’t even notice Kate was leaving until they heard the door close. Then Chloe jolted up in her seat and leaned away from Max. They looked away from each other. Where once they’d been exchanging their own happy vibes through a teasing grin and hand-holding, now there was only an awkward silence to fill the gap.

Chloe blinked. “Uhh...” She rubbed at her head, scrambling for a better icebreaker. “So...”

“Yeah...” Max wasn’t doing much better. She shot Chloe a fast glance, and then her eyes wandered back over to her journal. She reached for the pen lying on top of the notebook, but instead of writing, she began tapping the pen against the desk.  _ Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap-tap, _ like watching a beatnik poet have a nervous breakdown. Chloe couldn’t believe it. In the span of two seconds, that happy, dreamy-eyed artisté had vanished, leaving behind this shy, small girl with a bad case of the jitters.

“Something on your mind, Caulfield?” Chloe asked.

“Who, me?” The pen stopped twitching. Max leaned back in her chair, almost but not quite looking at Chloe. “Nah. I’m just nervous, is all.”

“About what?”

“I just...” She stopped and looked her friend up and down. Bit on her bottom lip a little. “You really wanna know?”

“Max, this is all new to me.” Chloe shrugged. Might as well lay her cards on the table. “I mean, shit, in the last forty-eight hours, I’ve gone from being afraid of a jealous, raging Kate Marsh to falling in  _ love _ with Kate Marsh. I was worried I drove you away, and now I’m finding out that you  _ and _ Kate are both interested in me.” She chuckled. “I mean, if your head is somehow even  _ more _ messed-up than mine is right now, then this is something I gotta hear.”

Max laughed and shook her head. She wrestled with something inside herself. Then her hand slid out toward Chloe again, and they locked their fingers together. More of that warmth trickled back into Chloe’s arm. She said nothing and waited.

“Okay, then. If you insist...” Max hesitated. “I... I’m head over heels for you, Chloe. It’s something I figured out over the holiday break. When I... when I looked over at the dinner table, and I realized that someone was missing.” Her face lit up in a brilliant smile. “And that someone was you.”

“Not Kate?”

“Kate, too. I guess, I’m greedy like that.”

“Aww. I’m fuckin’ proud to see you with a backbone, Max Factor.”

“Thanks, I think.” After a pause, Max tightened her grip on Chloe. “So, reaching that decision? That was the easy part. Because I’m just now realizing...” She swallowed. “Where the hell do we go from here?”

“Wherever we wanna go. Don’t stress out so much.”

“Yeah, but w-what about our parents? What about the other kids at Blackwell? How are they gonna feel when they see me doing with you what I’ve been doing with Kate? I... I don’t know if I can handle all those rumors, Chloe. I just—”

“Okay, Max?” Chloe reached out for Max’s other hand. She gripped it and pulled it closer to her chest, even if it meant scooting halfway off the bed. “You seriously need to chill. You’re gonna hyperventilate if you don’t.”

Max went quiet. Chloe kept gazing at her, until she saw Max nod to herself and take a long, deep breath. She held it and let it out slowly, ever so slowly, so that Chloe could see her small chest rise and fall with the movement. That was good. Chloe kept nodding at her girlfriend and smiled to encourage her. For a moment, she thought she was back at her PT sessions. Except, the weird thing was, she was on the other side of that stress. Now it was Chloe playing coach to her patient. But then, that was just BS. It was just Max, and who else knew her so well?

“Feel better?” she asked.

“Y-yeah...” Max breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. “Thanks...”

Chloe sat back on the bed. She didn’t even think about letting go of her friend’s hands. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you with this much anxiety. I’d almost forgotten.”

“It’s still the same bullshit like before. The school even put me on an IEP for it.”

Chloe frowned. “You taking any meds?”

“No. Why, should I?”

“I dunno.” Chloe shrugged. “As your partner in crime, I’m allowed to worry about you. So let  _ me _ worry about you for a change. Okay?”

Max’s smile returned. “Okay.”

“And I don’t have a clue about Blackwell or your folks either. But I know this much.” Chloe offered a sly wink. “I like you, Max. I’m crazy about you. If anyone’s giving you hell, I’ll face ’em right alongside you.”

Once again, Max let out that smile. That cute, innocent smile that Chloe saw back at her house weeks earlier. She didn’t hesitate and grabbed Max by the shoulders. Drew her out of her chair and onto the bed. Max fell against Chloe, snuggling up into her arms as they dropped onto the bed. With the smaller girl’s head nestled on her shoulder, both of them breathing soft and easy, Chloe surrendered herself to an immense peace she’d never had before. This was fucking new, and she loved it. Loved it so much that she bent down and kissed Max right on the lips.

It felt as good as the first time, thank God.

* * *

Minutes later, Kate came back to the dorm. Chloe and Max glanced up from the bed as she stumbled inside. Her arms were overflowed with vending machine goods. Muffins, wrapped sandwiches, bottles of iced tea, and, lo and behold, a genuine can of soda.

It was insane to look at. It was more impressive how the small girl could carry all that—and just like that, Chloe knew she’d had the thought one second too soon. Because Kate had barely made it inside before that soda can and one of the muffins went tumbling out of her grip. Chloe was just fast enough to reach out and snag the treats before they hit the floor.

“Sorry!” Kate exclaimed. She frowned at the pile in her arms. “I... I think I got too much.”

“Don’t worry!” said Max. She offered a tiny smile. “We’ll get through it. Chloe’s always had a bad case of the munchies.”

“Oh, ha ha, Max. It is to laugh.” Chloe rolled her eyes. But then she couldn’t help staring at one of the snacks Kate still held. A nice, fat brown muffin. “But yeah, toss that chocolate chip one over, Katie.”

With some guidance from Max, Kate spread out the treats on top of the bed. Chloe snatched up the muffin she desired and sank her teeth into it. She chewed and savored the sugar overload in her throat and down her stomach. Made a mental note to actually eat  _ before _ she left the house, even if it meant wolfing down a protein bar or some shit like that. Meanwhile, she let Kate lean into one shoulder, and Max into the other, as they proceeded to open up their drinks. No one said a word. The only noise was that of bottle caps clicking free and long, desperate sips.

Max cleared her throat after a minute. “This is...” She paused, admiring both the iced tea in her hand and the rest of her room. “This is nice. We should do this every week.”

Kate tilted her head and asked, “Just sitting around?”

“Yeah.” Max blushed. Then she added, “I know it’s not as elaborate as our tea dates, but—”

“No, I like it, too.” Kate grinned. She gave her cookie a nibble and chewed thoughtfully. “I guess we’ll have to reevaluate a lot of things.”

“Like you joining me at Bay City College?” Chloe asked. Her breath caught in her throat. The half-eaten muffin trembled in her hand. She had to play this cool. Didn’t want to sound  _ too _ hopeful. Not  _ too _ eager.

Kate brightened. “I think I’d like that.” She put down her cookie in her lap, brushed crumbs off her hands. “I mean, things  _ are _ getting better on campus now. Everyone’s a lot nicer than they used to be. And I even got a call about the children’s art I’ve been drawing, too—”

_ Crash. _

Poor Kate’s dialogue cut off when the bottle of iced tea slipped out of Max’s hand. It hit the floor with a tremendous impact. Shattered down the middle and let out a cascade all over the floor. Max cursed under her breath and leapt off the bed, managing to avoid the broken glass.

Chloe didn’t register the crash at first, but then her brain picked up on spilled tea soaking into the carpet, and so she did the first thing she could picture doing. Scrambling off the bed, she raced over to the open closet and yanked an old-looking college sweater from the rack inside. As Max tried to sweep up the broken glass with a binder, Chloe dropped to one knee and tried to mop up the spilled drink. All while Kate sat frozen on the bed, her hands covering her mouth.

“Sorry, sorry!” Max called out. She dumped the broken glass into her wastebasket. Then she took the damp sweater from Chloe, frowned, and threw it away, too. “There. Think I got most of it.” She grinned, her cheeks red with embarrassment. “I... Kate, that’s the best news ever!”

“Yeah, seriously. Congrats!” Chloe stood and went to nudge Kate in the shoulder. “And you thought you could hide this from us?”

Kate’s mortification faded, as her eyes drifted down to the floor. She blushed. “I... I didn’t want to announce anything until I knew for sure. At first, I thought this publisher only wanted to talk to me because of...” She paused. “Because of what happened in the Dark Room.”

“Oh, Kate.” Max tiptoed over the carpet. Chloe let it pass straight to the bed, where she reached out and grabbed Kate’s hand. Gave it a nice, long squeeze, and Kate smiled back. A sad smile.

“It’s fine, though,” Kate continued. “They’re going to look at a few sketches next week and they’ll let me know. But I’m not putting all my eggs in that basket.” She gazed at Chloe. “If you get into Bay City College, I might transfer over at some point. See where things go from there. I like Blackwell, but I don’t want to be stuck in the Bay forever.”

Chloe snorted. “Sistah, you’re preaching to the choir on that one.”

“Then I guess I’ll be transferring with you,” Max added. She gave the two girls an exaggerated pout. “You two will be having all the fun in college without me.”

“Aww, and we can’t leave precious Max behind, can we?” Chloe leaned around and pulled Max into a hug from behind. The smaller girl slid into her without fuss. “I think you’ve got the right idea. We’ll get ourselves a nice apartment and have some fun,  _ fun _ times to ourselves.”

“Ugh,” Max groaned. “Down, girl. We’re not  _ that _ far into a relationship yet.”

“What can I say? I like to go fast when I’m in love.”

“And remind me, which of us is still recovering from getting shot?”

Chloe bristled. “Oh, you are  _ not _ going to hold that over my head, Max. I will rain  _ fire _ on your cute butt.”

Kate broke the tension with a giggle. “Well, it  _ is _ cute.”

“See?” Chloe waved at her. “She’s the sensible one holding us together.”

Max laughed. “If you say so, First Mate.”

“Right, right. I always forget who’s the Captain here.” Chloe’s gaze drifted down to the sweater. To the tea-soaked sweater resting in the top of the wastebasket. Tried to imagine all the memories that Max must’ve had with that garment. All those memories without  _ her. _ “And I think it’s safe to say this top is ruined.”

“I can...” Max hesitated. Then, she smiled. “It’s cool. I can buy a new one. Make a fresh start.”


	15. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later, things have changed and settled for three girls in love. Chloe finds her peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna say, thanks to everyone (and I mean *everyone*) who kept up with this story from start to finish. I know some of y'all were hoping for a lot more Pricemarshfield, but I wanted this to be the setup. Hence, this is Part 1 of what could be an ongoing series. And since Life is Strange Season 2 was just announced, I know I'll definitely come back to this sooner or later. 'Til then, thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

**15\. Forward**

_One Year Later_

Snoring.

Birds singing outside the window.

The soft red glow of their digital alarm clock.

Two warm bodies nestled on either side of her.

These were the things that told Chloe Price that she wasn’t dreaming anymore.

She blinked and stretched out her arms. After enough months of their new quarters, she’d adapted to the way that Max and Kate pressed themselves against her when they slept. The combined weight didn’t bother her. Chloe paused to run her fingers through Kate’s hair—still floofy, though lacking in any proper hair dye. Max, of course, had taken the plunge long ago. While Chloe kept up a tiny streak of Bad Boy Blue, Max weaved stripes of Psychedelic Sunset into her coiffure. Nothing complemented blue quite as well as orange.

Someday, they’d get Kate to try out Cotton Candy Pink. Miracles _did_ happen, after all.

Chloe leaned past Max, getting a whiff of vanilla hair conditioner as she did, and glanced at the clock. Just about seven-thirty in the morning. Plenty of time before classes. Which meant plenty of time for a shower and breakfast. Ideally, something thick and greasy with lots of coffee.

Nudging Max’s arm from her hip, Chloe wiggled down to the foot of the bed. She hopped to her feet and padded quietly across the carpet. Yawned into one hand as she took in the mementos on the wall next to their bathroom door. This morning, she couldn’t quite get her act together. Too much fuzz on the brain. She desperately needed a caffeine fix so her the day could fucking start already.

But this morning, the Memorial Wall was looking real good.

Max’s photos adorned the majority of the space, held in place by thumbtacks and double-sided tape. Polaroid pictures of the Zeitgeist Gallery in San Francisco, where they’d admired all the winners of some saccharine contest called “Everyday Heroes.” Candid shots of Kate playing with her little sisters, Lynn and... Mary, she wanted to say. And then there were tons more vacation photos. The Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood. Mount Shasta. A gas station and diner five miles outside of Portland. A Razor Brigade show at the Roseland Theater. Cups of coffee and tea in a ritzy Seattle suburb.

But there was one photo where Chloe’s gaze always lingered. Every time she saw it, she could hear the waves crashing against the rocks. Could still smell saltwater and hear seagulls crying.

The lighthouse at Arcadia Bay stood regal in its own photo, almost dead-center in the collage that filled up the wall. At its base, silhouetted by a gorgeous sunset, were Max, Kate, and Chloe, all hugs and smiles for the camera that Kate herself had set up on a timer. Max and Kate wore the biggest, goofiest grins. Chloe only smirked, but she only did it for appearance’s sake. Had to play the cool aloof girlfriend, even around those dorks.

Chloe couldn’t resist. She kissed the palm of her hand and pressed it against the photo. Then she spun to her right and headed into the bathroom for a long-overdue shower.

* * *

“Do you think she’ll like it?” Max asked. She held up a plaid skirt. Its price tag fluttered in the light breeze from an overhead air vent. “I know it’ll fit her perfectly.”

“Heh, I’ll bet you do.” Chloe’s gaze wandered across the department store. “You could say we know every _inch_ of that girl...”

“Ugh. Don’t be gross.”

“C’mon. You know you love it.”

Max’s cheeks turned pink. “No. I just know how to put up with you.”

Chloe laughed and pulled her girlfriend close. “Aww. Coming from you, that’s practically a declaration of love.”

Max’s reddening cheeks suited the holiday decorations that littered the department store from top to bottom. The whole mall—Bay City’s only real hotspot—was awash in the Christmas spirit, from golden bells to mistletoe and miniature decked-out trees. You couldn’t go more than a few feet without hitting someone wearing a hideous red-and-green sweater or a pair of reindeer antlers. Chloe would’ve written the crowd off as a bunch of exported Portland weirdos, but even she had to admit that Max and Kate could rock those antlers when push came to shove.

 _Speaking of which..._ Chloe’s eyes drifted to a slight bulge in the front pocket of her jacket. A small square box, covered in velvet and kept far from Max’s sight during the shopping trip.

 _Don’t worry,_ she told the box. _You’ll get your time to shine._

“So, I think this’ll match our ensemble for Kate,” Max was saying. She added the plaid skirt to the pile of clothes under her other arm. Chloe had to resist a cheeky grin at the ripped-up T-shirt that she’d gotten from Hot Topic. It wasn’t genuine punk attire, but for a marshmallow like Kate, it was about as close as she’d ever get.

“Perfect,” Chloe remarked. “Now all she needs is a little studded bracelet, and she’ll be ready to thrash.”

Max chuckled and led the way over to the cash registers. “You wish! I’m sure Kate will need therapy after her first big show.”

“Ha ha. Maybe you can recommend someone?” Chloe’s smile died the moment the words left her mouth. She watched Max come to a halt and almost ran right into her back. Dropping her head, Chloe slipped her hands around the smaller girl’s waist. Squeezed her tight. “Sorry. That wasn’t very cool of me, was it?”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I shouldn’t tease ya like that, Maximal.”

“Chloe, you got me _into_ therapy. You’re allowed to tease.”

“And you’re _my_ girlfiend,” Chloe countered. Her hands tightened around Max. “You’re supposed to call me out on my bullshit.”

Max turned around, unable to dislodge Chloe’s grip. She reached up and caressed the taller girl’s face, smiling for both their sakes. That smile didn’t quite send up a flutter in Chloe the way it used to. She’d seen it a _lot_ over the last few months, over candlelit dinners and dim nightclubs.

“Wowser,” Max exclaimed. “Doesn’t take us long to start going at it when Kate’s not around, does it?”

Chloe ducked her head. “Of course not. We’re nothing without our little ray of sunshine.”

“God, she _hates_ it when you call her that.”

“Shush. It’s cute and she loves it.” Chloe reached down to snatch the skirt from Max. “Just like she’s gonna love this.”

“Which reminds me.” Max frowned and stole a glance toward the store entrance. Chloe followed her gaze over to the crowd of parents and children lining up for a photo with the mall Santa. Lots of energy and excited voices as teenagers in elf costumes herded the tykes along. “Do you want to pencil in some time to meet with Joyce and David after Christmas Eve? I don’t think the meetup with Kate’s folks will be that long.”

“I mean, probably?” Chloe shrugged. “Easy enough to skip the Marsh family midnight Mass. Plus, we’ll have our own angel prayin’ like hell for the both of us.”

Max didn’t smile at the joke. She added in a low tone, “We still haven’t gotten their approval yet.”

Chloe didn’t respond at first. She handed the skirt back to Max and immediately tried to picture Kate wearing it, along with the rest of the “punk” outfit they’d been assembling as their Christmas present to the girl. A blend of street culture icons and wholesome, unshredded attire. Just living with Max and Chloe had been enough to spark rumors within the Marsh family, from the smiling but distant Mama Marsh all the way to the fringe loony aunts and uncles. The truth about their relationship hadn’t surfaced yet, but it was enough that Max and Chloe were an item in public, with Kate free to live at their off-campus apartment.

Never mind that the girl did a lot more than just “live” with the other girls. A grin hit Chloe when she considered the first night all three of them had shared a bed. Oh, the things they’d learned about each other...

“Max,” said Chloe, “if her folks didn’t already hate me for having blue hair and tats, then they sure weren’t gonna like you for being a hipster agnostic shutterbug.” She shrugged, and then nudged Max toward the cash registers. “If Kate isn’t that worried about it, then why should we be so hung up?”

“I guess that’s true,” Max replied slowly. She frowned at the skirt in her hand. Then she slipped it into the pile of other purchases. “Well, I guess we’ll know in a few weeks, huh?”

“Heh. It’ll be sooner than you think.”

* * *

Two days later, in the middle of an art class with Dr. Himmelborg, Chloe’s phone buzzed. Thankfully, the auditorium was broad enough to muffle the sound. As the teacher rambled on about the history of Greco-Roman whatever, Chloe snuck a quick peek into her bag and the phone’s glowing screen within.

Of course, it was Max. She _was_ the nosy one of the relationship, after all.

> **_Max:_ ** _hey_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _hurry home soon_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _kate’s got a surprise_
> 
> **_Max:_ ** _and it’s not another movie night ;)_

Chloe nearly dropped her pen into the mad scramble to gather her things. Far ahead, the teacher didn’t even break stride as she slid out of her row and bolted for the door. Her heart raced inside her chest, thumping along with her boots as she dashed down the hallway outside.

Two hours later, sweaty and panting amidst tangled sheets, Chloe decided that, yes, there were some benefits to dating two girls at once.

* * *

Coming up the walkway, Kate kept shooting nervous glances over at Chloe and Max. Hard not to imagine why. Even the weather had decided to turn foreboding on the day of their visit. A cold, sunless sky covered their silent trek to the Marsh family house. Chloe’s eyes wandered over the home’s rigid Victorian lines and the dismal Jesus hanging on a crucifix over the front door. She wondered if anybody had ever made a happy little Christ on a cross, and then decided that was probably too morbid. Even a non-believer like her didn’t stomach the idea for long.

Still, such thoughts made it easier to ignore the way poor Kate was trying to smooth out the front of her dress. Between the three of them, she was the most modestly dressed, but the dark green skirt and crimson jacket looked festive enough for Christmastime. Certainly a step up from Max’s reindeer hoodie and Chloe’s button-down shirt and jeans. _Because,_ she’d told Max and Kate earlier that day, _that’s about all dressed-up as my ass is ever gonna get._

Kate paused at the front door. She reached up to ring the bell, but her hand froze. Fingers twitching, she drew back and looked at her girlfriends.

“S-sorry,” she whispered. “It’s... it’s a little nerve-wracking now that we’re here.”

“Take your time, Kate,” Max replied. She leaned in and hugged the other girl. “You can do this. It’s just dinner and then Mass. And we’ll be on our best behavior.” Without letting go, Max slid a look over to Chloe. “Won’t we?”

“Aye aye, Captain.” Chloe offered a mock salute. Then she fingered the tiny box in her pocket.

 _Well,_ she thought, _might as well give it up now._

“Here,” she said aloud, and took a step forward. Before Kate could react, Chloe removed the velvet box and popped it open. “I was _gonna_ wait until later tonight, or maybe tomorrow, but, y’know, you look like you could use this.”

Kate gasped at the trinket inside. Even Max was taken aback, although she quickly followed up with a smile. Chloe was grinning from ear to ear herself.

The jeweler at the mall had insisted that a _crux gemmata_ was, while pricier than the plain golden ones that Kate favored, still a classic sign of faith in the Christian community. Chloe knew she could’ve gotten it for cheap on Etsy, but she’d saved up for the special occasion. Besides, she knew the look that Kate wore was worth every damn penny she’d spent. So, without giving Kate a chance to protest, Chloe removed the necklace and looped it over her girlfriend’s head. Max quickly got the hint and proceeded to help Chloe arrange it to fall neatly over Kate’s breast.

“There,” Chloe said, making a final adjustment. “Now, your folks can’t say this lil’ thing would’ve burned me with hellfire.”

“Chloe, I...” Kate blinked. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t gotta say anythin—”

To her credit, Kate didn’t. She did lean forward and hug Chloe as hard as she could. Damn near knocked the wind out of her lungs, too. But Chloe smiled through the pain and hugged her back. She leaned down to kiss the top of the girl’s head, trying not to mess up her finely styled bun.

“Hold it,” Max interrupted. Before Chloe could even flip her off for it, Max had whipped out a camera from her bag and lined up her shot. Chloe smiled as the flash went off and let go of Kate. To her delight, she saw Max wasn’t using William Price’s clunky old camera, but one of the little digital models that she’d bought for outings like this. Nice of her to finally join the twenty-first century, at long last.

Chloe took Kate by the hand and smiled down at her. “Well, that’s about as mushy as I’m gonna get tonight. You’re welcome.”

Kate grinned. The blush on her face set a fire in Chloe’s chest, and she turned away. But not before she heard Kate whisper, “I love you, too.”

“Let’s get going,” Max said. “We don’t wanna keep them waiting forever.”

“Lead on, Captain,” Chloe answered. She reached over and squeezed Max’s hand, too. Enough to make her photographer girlfriend blush and spin around to knock on the door before she got even more embarrassed.

The door opened, and Kate’s father let them in with a kindly smile. Max and Kate led the way, and after a brief moment, Chloe followed them inside. She touched her stomach when she stepped into the warmth of the house, leaving behind the Bay’s winter chill. Beneath her shirt and cigarette-stained jacket, the scar tissue didn’t hurt at all. Nothing did, when she got right down to it. In fact, as she followed her girlfriends over to the dinner table with the others, Chloe felt pretty goddamn invincible.

THE END


End file.
